Til Death Do Us Part
by beautifuldisaster993
Summary: <html><head></head>Odd and Mannie have been happily married for fifteen years now, and have their own lives after XANA had been shut down. But a fateful car crash sends their worlds crashing down, especially after Mannie gets sent into a coma. OddxOC OCxOC JxA, UxOC YxW</html>
1. Car Crash

**Okay, first and foremost this is the third part of this story. What Have You Done, and All We Ever Wanted came before this, and I promise if you don't read those first you will be utterly lost. And I must admit, I started writing What Have You Done when I was just ending 8****th**** grade, so my writing skills have changed IMMENSELY. I am now a senior almost finishing high school! WOOOHOOO! :) anywho, this story always has been and always will be a close to my heart. I love it, and so I'm determined to make this part of the story the best! So, if you haven't read those two yet, I would suggest reading them before you start this one. It'll take you probably three hours at most to get through them. Okay, here we go!  
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'**Til Death Do Us Part**

**Chapter 1: Car Crash**

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><p>It was a quiet morning in the city of Kadic, France as usual. That's why, of course most people chose to live there. It didn't have the usual hustle and loud noise of a normal city. Most of the neighborhoods were suburban and of course, there were some upper-class households. 5:45 AM. A familiar blondebrunette sat up and turned off her alarm, pushed a button to open her blinds, and let the sun peek in.

"Ughhhh it's too early." Mannie whined as she turned over in her bed burying her face in the pillow beneath her.

"Yeah, I totally agree." Her husband, Odd smiled as he grabbed his groggy wife closer to him in a hug.

"Sssshhh, you're ruining it!" Mannie whined as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"Ruining what?" Odd faked being insulted.

"The silence. It was great until you had to open your big mouth and blab!" He laughed quietly, being used to her usual morning grumpiness after fifteen years of being married. She finally sat up in her bed, rubbed her eyes, and finally opened them so her bright gray eyes could adjust to the sunlight. She stood up, grabbed some clothes for the day, and walked to their bathroom. She splashed some water on her face to wake herself up more. She looked down at her left hand at the beautiful ring on her left finger. She smiled to herself, fifteen amazing years with the man of her dreams. She laughed quietly remembering the days from Kadic where her daughter, Aria, now went. She shook her head, stripped down to nothing, grabbed a towel from the cabinet, and put it on the towel rack next to the shower. She climbed in and turned the half way up, so she didn't burn herself. Fifteen minutes later, she was clean and out of the shower. She got dressed in some black shorts, and a light blue tank-top baby doll shirt. She blow-dried her hair and straightened it so it curled under toward her face, since she cut it to her shoulders. She spotted a water bottle and grinned to herself. She opened the door to her bathroom and silently tip-toed into her and Odd's room. She stood next to his side of the bed, quietly making sure not to wake him, and when she made sure he was still asleep she started violently squirting the bottle in his face. The water was ice cold so he jumped up, freaking out, spotting his wife laughing running into the bathroom. He jumped to his feet and ran to the door, trying to open it but she was barricading it, still laughing.

"What was that for!" He asked her wiping the water from his face.

"Putting ice down my shirt when I was sleeping on Saturday! Time to wakey wakey up baby!" She laughed some more.

"Yeah, but you _needed_ to wake up then! Kody was awake and crying, and it was your turn to change his diaper!" Odd whined, trying to push open the door. Kody was their four and a half month old son.

"Ohhh waaah waaah. You couldn't let me sleep in just once! I wake up every day and take care of them! You couldn't let me just sleep in once, could you?" Mannie sighed, letting her guard of the door go down, and Odd took advantage of this ramming into it, pushing it open. He looked around, spotted his fearful Mannie, smiled evily and pinned her up against the door.

"You whine too much." He laughed kissing her. A couple minutes later they heard Kody start crying. Mannie sighed.

"No more after Kody, okay? Try to control yourself." She patted him, smiled, ducked under his arm and went to take care of their son. Odd smiled to himself, looking in the mirror, ran his hand through his hair (which was the same style as before). 'I don't know how I got so damn lucky.' He stripped naked, grabbed a towel, and took a shower.

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><p>Downstairs, Mannie was attempting to calm their son. She was humming him a familiar lullaby, cradling him in her arms. She had changed his diaper and tried to feed him a bottle, but he wouldn't take it, so she was trying to coo him into going back to sleep. Eventually he calmed down, and slipped back into his peaceful slumber, so she placed him back in his crib, smiled, and went to start breakfast. She made fifteen Belgian waffles, chocolate milk for Aria, orange juice for herself, and coffee for Odd. She also had eggs, bacon, and sausage if they had wanted any. She made sure to turn the oven off and went upstairs to wake up Aria. Aria was around the same height as Mannie, but was as skinny as Odd was in high school. Odd had finally put some weight on his body after high school, but most of it was muscle, as him and Ulrich still went to the gym daily. Aria had golden blonde hair with some brown-lowlights, and purple bangs, all natural thanks to her dad. Mannie knocked on the door and opened it slowly seeing her daughter still dead asleep. Another trait she got from her dad, she could sleep through anything and everything. Mannie walked over to her wall, and open the curtains to let sunlight into Aria's room. At night, there was a moonlit sky on her ceiling, and in the day she had a sunroof that would open, letting the breeze in. "Aria baby, it's time to get up."<p>

"Noooooooo. Smmmurfff ennfffffandddfffff." Aria whined from her pillow. Mannie laughed and headed for the door.

"Aria, if you don't get up, I'll call in your dad to wake you up." This caused the teen to open her bright green eyes and jump out of bed right away. She showered and got dressed for the day, and ran downstairs to get her breakfast. The three chatted away sharing jokes and talking to each other cheerfully, until Mannie went in and got Kody ready for the day. She was dressing him up in his usual, every day attire, when she felt two arms snake around her stomach, so she turned around and smiled.

"Are you heading out already?" She asked. He nodded and pecked her on the lips.

"Yup, there's this new supposedly 'amaaazing' band that Josh wants me to hear, so I'm gonna listen to them, and if they're good I'll probably be there late, but if they suck like I think they will I'll be home around lunchtime, which means I can meet you wherever your fine little self is today and we can have a little alone time." He smacked her on the butt. She smiled and kissed him again.

"Can't you take Kody to daycare today? I really wanna have a talk with Aria, and I can't do that if Kody's whining the whole way to Kadic." Mannie asked him, pecking him quickly to try and persuade him.

"You know I would, but I'm already running late. How about I do it tomorrow?" Odd offered. Mannie sighed.

"Alright fiiiine, but you owe me." Mannie smiled turning back around to finish dressing their son.

"Oh don't worry. I intend on making it up to you." He laughed, smacking her on the butt again, walking out the door and yelling, "I love you!" Then she could hear the garage door open and his car backing out.

"I love you too!" Mannie yelled picking up Kody, grabbing his baby bag. She grabbed her purse, put it on one shoulder, the baby bag on the other. "Ready Aria?"

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><p>"Moooom. Dad was telling me that we're NOT going to Paris this weekend!" Aria whined. Kody had brown eyes like his dad but just blonde hair like his mom, but he was a chubby baby. Mannie sighed.<p>

"We told you, you need to have an 85 in science, and you only have a 73. We are not going to Paris until you get your grades up." Mannie closed the door to the back seat of her white Jeep Grand Cherokee and walked to the driver's seat, and looked at her daughter. "Look, if you get up your grades to an 85 by next weekend we'll go."

"Wellllll, Mrs. Hertz told me how daddy used to always get failing grades! Why are you making me do the impossible! I think she has it in for me since dad was such a horrible student." Aria shook her head.

"Hahaha, well that may be true sweetie, but I was her star student. I got 100's. I still can't believe that lady is still teaching there." Mannie started the car and backed out of her and Odd's house. Odd and Mannie got married a year after they graduated on the beaches of France. Everyone, and I mean everyone was there. Almost everyone from school made it, and even Sam made an appearance. She apologized to Mannie and Odd about everything she had done over the past couple years, but Odd had her escorted out because he didn't trust her. Odd, had gone to college for two years to get an associate's degree in Music Producing. He moved on and was a part time painter when he wasn't busy with his very successful music business. Mannie still modeled sometimes just like her mom, and spent a lot of her time being an activist for organizations to help hunger and helping dolphins and other animals and such.

Yumi went to college and became a math teacher at Kadic, she and William also opened a dojo where they taught martial arts. William also became a master chef. They had two twin girls together, Naomi and Milee.

Aelita and Jeremy went onto college in Pisa, and they both became very successful scientists, Jeremy a geneticist and Aelita a cytologist. They had a son, Aldo, and a smaller daughter Carrie.

Avril and Ulrich also both went to college, Ulrich got a scholarship for the soccer team then got drafted by the Les Blues, and Avril became a best selling author. They both had a son as well, Damien.

As Mannie was driving to drop Kody off, he started crying.

"Aria, can you please reach in the bag and give Kody a bottle?" Mannie asked, not looking away from the road.

"Fiiiiine, not like you ever do anything for me." The teen whined while reaching behind her reaching for a bottle. "I don't see one Mom. Are you sure you packed one?"

"Yes I'm sure I packed one!" They pulled up to a stop light, Mannie unbuckled her seatbelt, reached back for the bag, and accidentally took her foot off the break. Aria turned frontward in her seat, and checked her phone.

"MOOOOM….Damien says they're all going to Paris this weekend! That's not fair!" Aria whined. She looked up. "Mom! Look out!" Before she knew it, a big van, which had been coming straight for them crashed into the driver's side of the car. Mannie flew forward and her head crashed into the right side, back seat side window, leaving a big crack. Aria flew forward, though restrained by the seatbelt, she still hit her head on the dashboard. A big group of people rushed around the car as the van drove away with a bashed in fender, and a bunch of people called 9-1-1 reporting the crash.

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><p>"Move out of my way!" Odd ran into the Kadic City ER Hospital. and hurried to the front desk. "Odd Della Robbia. I'm here about my son Kody Della Robbia, daughter Aria Della Robbia, and wife Manuella Della Robbia." He showed them his ID. One of the nurses heard this and asked him to come with her.<p>

"This way Mr. Della Robbia… We are so sorry about your family. Your wife is in the ICU, thankfully your son only has a few scratches from glass, he's in the room with your daughter who is resting up. She has some cuts and bruises and a concussion from hitting her head. We figured you'd want them together." The nurse looked at him apologetically.

"What about my wife…?" He asked her.

"She is in a coma. She also got a concussion. For now she is stable, but you should go see your kids first, then we can take you to see your wife. Maybe she will be better by then!" The nurse tried to be positive.

"Okay, thank you so much." Odd's eyes started to well up with tears. 'I can't believe this. After fifteen years of _nothing_ harming my family, they almost die.' He took a deep breath and walked into his daughters' room. "Aria? Baby?"

"Ohhh daddy!" He saw his daughter lying in the bed, and it broke his heart. He was supposed to protect her. And, here she was, 14 years old with all these damn machines hooked up to her poor little body.

"My poor little princess are you okay?" He ran over to her and hugged her tight. "Where's Kody?" He asked her. She pointed to a smaller version of the bed she was in. He walked over and picked up his son. Kody was sleeping and turned cuddled into his father's arms. Odd kissed his son on the forehead.

"Daddy where's mommy?" Aria asked him. He felt a terrible, sharp pang in his chest.

"….Mommy's in the ICU sweetie." He tried to stay strong in front of his daughter.

"Dad, I'm sorry I couldn't protect her. It just all happened all so fast!" He was taken aback by what she said, put Kody down, walked over to her, and kneeled by her bed.

"Hey hey hey now, you have nothing to be sorry for. I am so sorry that I couldn't keep you safe. Mommy will be okay princess, don't worry about her." Odd smiled and kissed his daughter on her head.  
>"Now get some rest. I'll be here when you wake up." Odd went and sat in a chair near his daughters bed.<p>

* * *

><p>He sat there for a little, reminiscing in his and Mannie's life together, and it wasn't long before Jeremy, Aelita, Ulrich, Avril, Yumi, William, and their kids all showed up.<p>

"What are you all doing here?" Odd whispered in surprise.

"You didn't think we were gonna let you go through this alone did you? We're all like a family." Aelita smiled.

"A big big family!" Yumi and Williams' twins chorused, and Odd smiled.

"Thanks guys, it really means a lot."

"How's Mannie?" Ulrich asked him, and Odd frowned and sighed.

"She's in the ICU, they haven't let me see her yet." He shrugged.

"They're probably still trying to stabilize her. If she's in a coma all the people in the room could stress her out." Aelita said trying to make him feel a little better.

"Uncle Odd, don't worry about Auntie Mannie. She's a strong lady! I mean, she used to always beat you up! She'll get through this." Carrie said with her small voice. Odd picked her up and sat her in his lap.

"Thanks Carrie, you always know what to say." He poked her side, tickling her. He looked up at his daughter and saw the others' kids all sitting around her. It brought back memories of when he was in Kadic, and anyone in the group would be in the infirmary.

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><p>About 30 minutes later, the door opened to Aria and Kody's room.<p>

"Mr. Della Robbia?" The nurse from before poked her head into the room. "You can go see your wife now." Everyone minus the kids stood up and followed Odd as he led the way behind the nurse. She slowly opened the door, and they all walked inside.

"Oh my Mannie!" He ran to her bedside and grabbed her hand. "I promised I would never let anything happened to you, I'm so sorry." He kissed her hand, and sat in a chair next to her.

"Wow…she looks like an angel." Avril said admiring Mannie. Mannie had cut her blonde hair shoulderlength, longer in the front, shorter in the back with brown lowlights. She had a big ugly bruise on her forehead, and cuts all over her body, and she was hooked up to numerous machines.

Suddenly out of nowhere, the lights in the hospital started flickering, and the machines started turning on and off. All the adults in the room got a familiar, sick to the stomach feeling and knew exactly what was happening.

All at once, they whispered, "XANA…"

They all dashed into Aria and Kody's room, where they saw Aria standing up with all her machines not hooked up to her body anymore.

"Aria, what are you doing? Lay back down!" Odd ordered his daughter. She shook her head.

"The machines aren't working anyways! I want to go with you!"

"What? How did you know we were leaving?" Odd asked her. She looked down at the ground confused.

"I…I don't know." He smiled and walked over to her.

"It's okay, as long as you're safe, you can come." He pushed her forward and all the children walked forward with their parents.

"Me, Carrie, and Kody will stay here, I don't want her to be put at risk." Aelita nodded. Jeremy nodded as well and kissed Aelita, and Carrie on the forehead.

Odd nodded to her, and then they all left the hospital, and made their way to Kadic. When they all got out of their cars, Odd and Ulrich stopped in front of the kids.

"We're going to show you guy something that you guys can't tell to _anyone_.It's been our secret for over twenty years, okay? So don't tell anyone no matter what they ask." Ulrich looked at all of them in the face. They all started walking to the factory.

"There's this other world we can travel to, called Lyoko. Not everyone can go in, but if you're chosen then you can." Odd helped explain. The kids looked at each other like their parents were crazy, but shrugged anyways.

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><p>Back at the hospital a person stepped out of the darkness of Mannie's room and walked over to her lifeless body.<p>

"Hmph. I knew this would happen eventually. I knew you'd abandon Odd once again." The woman ran a dark finger up Mannie's leg, and made it twitch. "Ha. I could just kill you now if I wanted to, but I won't. I want you to _suffer_. You took Odd from me, the children, and life I could have had with him. Oh, and don't worry about Aria either." The woman bent over and whispered in Mannie's ear. "I'm making sure I take care of that little _bitch_ myself, because I know she would ruin things for me, just like you did over, and _over, _and _OVER." _The woman grabbed a bar and slammed it down hard on Mannie's leg, breaking the bone. "I know you can feel that Manuela. Even if you won't show it. Odd will be mine. And I'll make sure everyone forgets you ever existed." The woman laughed, and walked out of Mannie's room.

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><p><strong>Okaaaay, first chapter! I hope it was good enough! I'll try to update as much as I can, and I would really love some reviews so I can know what y'all think and if y'all like this story! So leave me your reviews or PM me, and lemme know!<strong>


	2. What!

**Alright alright, so onto Chapter 2! I sincerely hope Chapter 1 was up to your expectations and that y'all loved it: ) I want to thank I-Breached-Your-Security for reviewing! She's been with this story from the start of it, and it really means a lot that she's still a part of it! I also want to thank MidnightStory Teller for reviewing! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!** **Also, ukitakeitalialover041757 for reviewing, I've always loved Odd too: ) and this is me being very creative because I have no actual idea what he'd actually be like as an adult, haha. And just for the rest of y'all, if you like the story, then review! It makes me want to update faster because I know people enjoy this story and that people are actually reading it! Anywhooo, now onto the important stuff : )**

'**Til Death Do Us Part**

**Chapter 2: What?**

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><p>Odd and Ulrich led everyone else up the elevator, and into the SuperComputer Room.<p>

"Woooooaaah!" Echoed throughout the teens. Odd, Jeremy, Yumi, William, Avril, and Ulrich all smiled. Jeremy instantly walked over to the Super Computer and started typing, trying to locate the problem. His son, Aldo who had blonde hair like his father, green eyes like Aelita, and also wore glasses, followed and stared, amazed at the information on the screen. Jeremy hit the "Enter" key, and the words "NOT FOUND!" popped up. He typed some more, hit "Enter", same result.

"What the hell?" He asked, trying the same process.

"What's wrong?" Yumi asked walking to the other side of the blonde genius.

"It can't locate your guys' information….how are we supposed to stop XANA?" He asked, frustrated, rubbing his temples.

"Wait wait wait, who is this 'XANA' person?" Aria asked him.

"It's this computer program/person who tries to create havoc and destroy the world. It's kind of hard to describe, but if we can't get in there, then your mom could be in some serious danger, as for the rest of us." Ulrich tried to explain, but the kids just looked baffled.

"Well… maybe it's us who needs to go in there… if you guys can't go in, someone has to." Damien shrugged.

"No, you guys don't know what you are getting yourselves into. If you don't have the mental stability, or physical strength you could die." William shook his head.

"Someone has to go in and save mom. I'll do it if no one else is willing." Aria looked around the room, spotted a little area to a ladder, and ran over to the ladder to climb down.

"Aria no!" Odd ran over to the ladder to grab his daughters' arm, but she moved it out of the way. She looked up at him with a serious face.

"Dad, you can't go in there to save her, but I might be able to. I get it, it's dangerous. But I'm yours and mommy's daughter. You both I know are strong people. You have to trust me that I'll be okay." She smiled at her worried father. "I'm gonna make sure I get out alive, k? I need to be there to help Kody grow up!" Aria climbed the rest of the way down, and stared up at the tall Virtualizers. "Woah.." Damien and the two twins ran up behind Odd.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to her, I promise Uncle Odd." Damien patted Odd on the shoulder, smiled and hopped down, and the two twin climbed down the ladder, as with Aldo. Damien had brown hair like Ulrich, and bright blue eyes like the sky on a clear day. He had the same laid-back style as Ulrich as well.

"Okay you guys, are you sure you want to do this?" Jeremy asked them, tense knowing that Aelita would kick his butt when she found out he let them into Lyoko.

"Yeah… but how do we get in Lyoko?" Naomi, one of the twins asked. Naomi and Milee both had black hair, and coal black eyes, Naomi had short shoulder length hair and Milee had back length hair. Usually, they dressed in similar outfits, and sometimes even matched on complete accident.

"Step into the virtualizers and Jeremy will try to virtualize you into Lyoko." Yumi told them.

"Well, who wants to go first?" Aldo laughed nervously. Damien sighed and pushed him into one of the virtualizers, he stepped into one himself, and Aria stepped into one. As they saw the door close they each took a deep breath. As Aria and Damien were being pixelized, Aldo's virtualizer door reopened. He popped his head out and looked around. "Why am I still here?" He asked.

"Maybe Aldo can't be virtualized because he's your child." Odd said, looking at the screen seeing a big X over Aldo's virtualizer.

"It would make sense." Jeremy shrugged. Damien and Aria both fell from the sky into the desert sector, and landed on their behinds. Aria had on a pure white leather suit, a skirt with black lines on both sides and a tank top with no straps. She still had the same hair except it was up in a ponytail. Damien had on a black suit, much like William's from before, but he had the tie around his head like his father.

"OOOOOOOOOWWW. Thanks for the warning. Jeez." Aria rubbed her behind. She stood up and looked around. "So this is Lyoko, huh? Doesn't look very dangerous to me." Damien stood up next to her.

"Well your dad and everyone else wouldn't have been worried over nothing… there's obviously something we need to be careful about."

"He's right Aria. That virus man we told you about will send monsters after you, so be careful." Odd said into the microphone. Naomi and Milee virtualized next, both falling the same exact way as the other two, who laughed at the two twins. Naomi had on a pink dress which came down to her knees, with a cherry blossoms in her hair, tucked behind her ear. Milee had the same dress, but in white and her hair pulled back half up half down.

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><p>Mannie opened her eyes slowly, expecting to see a bunch of bright lights, but instead she was in a dimly light room with a bunch of machines. 'Wh-where am I? This isn't Heaven…so where could it-'<p>

"Oh good, you're awake. It's about time." A man with a deep voice spoke up. Mannie blinked some more and looked around, spotting the speaker.

"XANA…" The man smiled.

"So… you recognize me do you?" He walked closer. He had shoulderlength black hair, what appeared to be a five o'clock shadow, about six feet tall, with a very muscular build. His eyes were what creeped her out the most. They were exactly what the XANA symbol was, and they just made him look so inhuman.

"What am I DOING here? I haven't been anywhere near Lyoko in sixteen years." Mannie looked angry. "I was so _done_ with this place."

"Well you see, Mannie dear. You took away my two servants, and I've always had this need to take care of you. Not in the way that your little Odd does, no…not like that at all. Just to…get rid of you, I guess would be the better way to put it." XANA smiled with that same dirty smile. She looked at him curiously.

"I thought my dad got rid of you."

"You would think that, yes. I mean, I even thought that that day was my demise, but no. Thankfully I can survive through almost everything. It seems to be the same way with you." XANA walked closer to her. "That's what makes us so much alike Mannie. You see, me & you, we're like twins."

"Why did you bring me here XANA? What is the point of all this?" Mannie asked him, desperate for some answers.

"Your soul belongs to me Mannie, no matter how badly you wish it didn't."

"Why don't you just kill me? Wouldn't it just be that much easier on you?" She asked him with a painful look in her face.

"Now where's the fun in that? Plus, I want you to suffer, just like your father had to. You get to watch your beloved Odd suffer from you being gone, and your children not having their mom while they grow up." XANA laughed in her face.

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><p>Aria started pacing around. "So what exactly are we supposed to do here?"<p>

"You need to find the activated tower. Run to the South." Jeremy told them, viciously typing on his keyboard. The teens ran South and saw a tower that was glowing red, outside waiting for them was something they didn't expect to see.

* * *

><p>"So what? Are you just gonna keep me locked up in here? That's more like luxury than suffering if you ask me." Mannie shook her head and looked away.<p>

"Oh dear Mannie Mannie Mannie, the years really have softened you up and made you stupid, haven't they? Don't think I'm going to give you the advantage I gave your father." XANA laughed. He walked over to a big wall, placed his hand, the wall scanned his hand, and it opened to a big room with lights, computer screens, and keyboards. He pressed a button which released her restraints and she fell forward.

"So what are you doing exactly?" She asked as she rubbed her wrists.

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><p>Standing up in front of the tower was Mannie, her hair black, the same length but with a white leather suit that she had before. She was looking down at the ground, with her eyes closed.<p>

"Uuuhh…dad… Jeremy… Mom's here in Lyoko?" Aria stared at her mom, feeling very apprehensive.

"WHAT?" Jeremy pressed a bunch of buttons, and the P.O.V of Aria came up.

"Oh my gosh, Mannie!" Aelita put her hands over her mouth, and Odd's hands clenched up against his jeans.

"How is she there? She's in the _hospital_." Odd said quietly.

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><p><strong>Okay, this chapter kinda sucked, and I have so much planned for chapter 3, so read and review and the next chapter will be up soon!<strong>

**Amber**


	3. Miserably Loving You

**AAAAHHH! Soooo I have totally neglected you all and this story, I'm so sorry guys:( I promise I'll make up for it by writing an extra long and awesome chapter! SOooo it's been like 50 years since I've written for this story, but my love for Odd and Mannie runs so deep in my heart:) I promise you, I won't let you down.**

'**Til Death Do Us Part**

**Chapter 3: Miserably Loving You**

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><p>The dark copy of Mannie looked directly up to her daughter and grinned darkly. She grabbed her scythe and started swinging at her relentlessly. "MOM STOP IT!" Aria yelled as she and Damien ran back in the direction they came from.<p>

"She's not your mother Aria, your mother is back in the hospital. This is a trick." Odd told his daughter, completely furious with XANA, having him and all his friends go through this torture when they were younger was one thing, but to involve his children was a whole other deal. He walked over to the wall and punched it out of anger.

"Odd calm down, getting angry and out of control is not the answer. We need to guide them." Avril told them, she put a hand on his shoulder calming him down.

"You're right.." He said quietly and turned back to the screen. Naomi spoke up, "Let us go in there to help. We may be two girls, but we're strong!" She grinned and pulled her sisters hand and they went down to the virtualizer room .

"Please be careful girls!" Yumi yelled, worried.

"Yeah yeah yeah, mom we'll be fine!" Milee replied rolling her eyes. The two got virtualized into the same zone Aria and Damien were in, they had on matching outfits which were pink shorts, Milee had a black top and Naomi had a white top. They swiftly ran to their comrades to see the Mannie look alike swinging at Aria.

"Don't we get any weapons or anything?" Aria asked him, doing a bunch of back flips dodging her mother's attacks.

"I'm working on it!" Jeremy suddenly remembered a series of codes to type in, and they all got weapons. Milee had a samurai sword, just like Ulrich, Naomi had a giant fan with blades on the end of it, Damien had a giant long sword, and Aria had a bow and arrow. Aria reached behind her and grabbed an arrow shooting it at Mannie who deflected it running up and swinging the scythe almost hitting Aria in the face.

* * *

><p>"Why are you doing this to our children? Why can't this just be between me and you?" Mannie yelled at him, watching her daughter almost being killed by her alter ego. "Is this what you did to William? Had him locked up in a room, unable to communicate with anyone just using his body to try and kill us?" Mannie asked him.<p>

"You're a smart one, Mannie. It's no wonder Odd wanted you for himself, beauty and brains. That's too hard to find these days. Too bad you won't be leaving this place." XANA smirked.

* * *

><p>Aria looked her mother square in the eyes. She could tell it wasn't actually her, there was no life in those dull gray eyes. 'How can I defeat her…? It won't actually hurt her if I attack her right? She's in the hospital…not here.' "Hey Dad, if I attack Mom, will it hurt her in real life?"<p>

"When I was trapped by XANA I was basically in a coma, I don't remember a thing about it. So I'm guessing she'll be fine." William told them. Aria nodded and looked back at Damien, Milee, and Naomi nodding at them. She pulled back her bow and shot an electric bow at Mannie's body. It sent her flying backward and into a virtual tree, her life points depleted quickly making her body disappear.

"She's definitely not as strong as the real Mannie was." Ulrich noticed and Yumi nodded in agreeance, her arms crossed, thinking. "The thing is though, XANA could always be trying to trick us, mainly the kids because they don't know what to expect from him. I mean, it's not as if he hasn't revived himself and become 100 times stronger before."

* * *

><p>Mannie fell to the floor in pain from Aria's attack which felt very real and extremely painful. She winced and then slowly stood up feeling electricity flow through her body. She looked up to XANA who was grinning wildly at her.<p>

"It just brings me so much joy to see you in pain; it pleases me more than anything else I've ever felt before." He rushed towards her at an inhuman speed and grabbed her by the neck holding her against the cold wall. "I exist for nothing else but to see you suffer Manuela." He whispered in her ear and then watched her struggle to breathe, just as she was about to pass out he dropped her, making her gasp for air and he walked into a different room, pleased with himself. Tears started welling up in her eyes, but then she wiped them away. 'No, I need to stay strong for the kids. I will not let XANA have this power over me and know he is winning. I will stay strong for the kids and make it out of this alive.'

* * *

><p>The kids devirtualized the tower, after a long and painful explanation from their parents as the only two who had ever actually devirtualized a tower were Aelita and Mannie, and neither of them were there. Luckily Aelita had explained it to Jeremy a couple times and he was able to explain it to Aria. The kids were devirtualized back into the real world, and they were kind of in a frazzled state. The parents ran down to hug their kids and Aria looked up to Odd, "Can we go back to the hospital and visit mom please? I wanna make sure she's okay."<p>

"Of course baby, we'll go back right now." Odd smiled at his daughter. The twins and Damien went back to school, not before giving Aria a reassuring hug, though. "Text me." Damien smiled to her, and she nodded. Yumi, Ulrich, William, Jeremy, and Avril all went back to their jobs and Odd and Aria went back to the ER hospital. When they got back to Mannie's room she was still fast asleep and Aelita was cradling Kody in her arms. She stood up and turned to the door when she heard the door open, and rushed over to Odd.

"I've been in the nursery with Kody and I heard a bunch of commotion over here. Mannie went into cardiac arrest for about five minutes, but they stabilized her and she's been fine ever since and Kody's been fast asleep through the whole thing. You know, it's strange to me how the XANA attack affected her when she is in a coma here in a hospital. But I really don't doubt he has the power to, we've all seen how completely devastating his attacks can be…" Aelita handed Odd his son, and Aria walked over and sat next to her mother. Aria grabbed her hand and felt a small squeeze in response and Aria's eyes filled with tears. Kody opened his bright green eyes and smiled seeing his father's face, he made a gurgling sound and then a giggle. He reached his little hands up to reach for Odd's face and Odd held his son against his chest, rubbing and patting his back and he felt his sons' hands squeeze his shirt and his head resting on his shoulder. 'Thank God you're okay.' Odd sighed in relief.

"I hate seeing Mom like this." Aria said quietly Odd turned and looked to her. "It's not fair.. she's so strong.. this shouldn't have happened to her." Odd walked over to his daughter and hugged her with his free arm.  
>"She's a strong person Aria, just like you. She'll make it through this, I promise. She's been in plenty of worse situations." Odd smiled, reassuring his daughter. 'You better make it out of this Mannie, I can't do this without you. Forever and always remember?' Odd stared down at his wife's emotionless face. "How about we go grab some dinner and then spend the rest of the day together at the house? You pick where we eat." Odd smiled at Aria again. She nodded and kissed her mom on the cheek, and Odd bent down and kissed Mannie on the forehead. "I love you Mannie."<p>

* * *

><p>Mannie's mind was taken (kind of like an out of body experience) from XANA's lair to where she was with her family at their house. Her eyes widened, maybe it was all a dream!<p>

"Odd!" She ran up to him, but he didn't respond to her. She could see and hear them, but they couldn't see or hear her. Aria was cuddled up next to Odd, they were watching The Blind Side, her favorite movie, and Mannie reached out to touch her daughters head, but her hand went right through Aria's head. She heard Odd's voice 'Please Mannie, I need you. Please come back to me…' Oddly enough, his lips weren't movie, but he had a painful look on his face. 'Did I just hear his thoughts?' She heard the front doorbell ring and ran to go see was there. Odd handed Kody to Aria and went to answer the door, and then Aria's vision went black again… and she was back in the same room. She slammed her hand against the wall in frustration and buried her head in her arms.

* * *

><p>When Odd opened the door his eyes widened in surprise, the person standing in front of him was definitely someone he was not expecting to see, Sam was leaning against the doorway with a sly smile on her face. Her hair was a dark brunette color with red tips and red bangs and it came down to her elbows, being slightly naturally curly. Her skin was a light caramel chocolate color and she was around the same height as him. She was wearing loose jean capris and a white babydoll t-shirt.<p>

"It's been too long, Odd." She took a long pause before she said his name, and it sent chills up his spine.

"Aria, watch over Kody!" He yelled as he shut the door behind him and heard his daughter yelling from inside, something that sounded like "Whaaaat? Why!" Odd looked back at Sam who then grabbed him in a big tight hug, which he didn't return. "What the fuck are you doing here Sam? I told you to stay away from me and my family." He told her in an angry tone and pushed her away from him.

"I just heard about what happened to Mannie and decided to come deliver my condolences to you personally." She grinned grabbing his hand which he pulled away immediately.

"She's not dead Sam." He gave her a dark look, and she crossed her arms and gave him a smug look in return.

"Yet, Odd but who knows. She may never come out of that coma, and even if she does who knows if she will even be mobile. What if she's a vegetable and you have to pull the plug on her ever so disappointing and pointless life? I always knew deep down in my heart that we'd have another shot at being together and this is our chance Odd! If she dies, think of all the possibilities." Sam's eyes shined and Odd looked at her with disgust.

"Look Sam, I have a family with Mannie. She is my wife and I love her more than anything in this whole world, aside from my children. No one ever could or will replace her in my life. You need to go find someone _else _who will think that way about you." He turned to go back inside.

"Well you could at least invite me inside to meet your kids, I'm practically their aunt!" Odd sighed.

"Fine. But you can stay an hour tops." Sam nodded and followed him inside. Her eyes widened at how beautiful the house was. "And before you ask, yes Aria designed and decorated the house." It was magnificent. Beside the doorway were two identical water fountains, they were about waist height and had LED lights that flashed different colors. All around the room were pictures. Pictures of their family, Ulrich and Avril's family, Aelita and Jeremy's family, and Yumi and William's family. In the very middle of the room was a portrait of everyone together. He led her into the family room which had two black leather sofa's a love seat and a chaise lounge couch which Aria was sitting on holding Kody. Their TV was giant and above a fire place which was lit, they had a black glass coffee table in front of the chaise lounge couch which had some candles on top of it along with some magazines. Odd and Sam walked up to Aria and Kody, and Aria turned around.

"Who is that?" Aria asked her father.

"Aria, this is Sam, an old friend of mine from high school. And Sam this is Mannie and my daughter Aria, and son Kody." Aria eyed Sam, and instantly got a bad feeling. 'I don't like the looks of her…' But Aria smiled at her anyways and nodded turning around. Sam walked up to Aria and Kody and picked Kody up, he reached out for Aria then turned to look at the person holding him. He blinked and then started crying, he blurted out the word "Mama!" And started waving his arms and legs around. Aria stood back up and grabbed her brother. "If you will excuse us." And then left the room to calm down her brother. Odd grinned foolishly and sat down on the couch.

"So what have you been up to these past fifteen years?" Odd asked her, changing the subject.

* * *

><p>Things had been calm for quite some time, no XANA attacks and everyone visited Mannie every other day if not every day. Her hospital room was filled with flowers, cards, and stuffed animals. It was the day of their 16th year anniversary. Odd woke up from his deep slumber and sighed. "I never realized how much I took you for granted my love." He rolled over and put his hand on her side of the bed, it was cold and her shape was no longer imprinted into the bed. He spotted a picture of them from their wedding on her nightstand and closed his eyes thinking back to that day. He remembered being the most nervous he had ever been in his life. They chose to have their wedding on the French Riviera and he remembered going outside to catch his breath and get some air multiple times. Ulrich came up to him and reassured him he would be okay. Odd was wearing a black tux with a purple tie and he had his hair up in its usual manner.<p>

"I've never seen anyone in love as deeply as you and Mannie are. You two would do anything for each other and nothing will ever change that. I know she's probably freaking out just as much as you are. Don't worry about it man, you two will be together forever." Ulrich slapped him on the back and grinned. "Plus just think about tonight, all your worries will be gone." Odd laughed nervously.

"Yeah I guess you're right, just wait until you and Avril get married, you're gonna shit your pants too."

* * *

><p>Mannie was inside one of the rooms of the chateau they were staying at, getting ready. She had decided to keep her hair down in curls, at this time her hair reached her midback. She dyed the underneath longer part dark brown and the top part was blonde, she had bangs that came down to right below her eyebrows. She was wearing a white strapless dress that had a long trail on the ground and had gold fabric on her waste with an intricate beaded design on her chest. She had a small tiara with a veil that covered her face. "I'm ready…" She said quietly. Yumi, Aelita, and Avril were all in the room with her praising her.<p>

"You look amazing."

"Odd's the luckiest guy on this planet!"

"He's going to cry when he sees how gorgeous you are!" They all chorused and she laughed. "Thanks guys." Mannie's mom come in and handed Mannie a little box.

"What is it?" She asked her.

"Well open it and look!" Celestine told her daughter with a bright smile on her face. Inside was a gold necklace with a tiny diamond.

"Mom! This is grandma's necklace?" Mannie asked her. Celestine nodded. She grabbed the necklace from the box and placed it on her neck.

"I thought you should wear it today, and I was right. It's perfect." Celestine hugged Mannie.

"Mom do you think I should do this?" Mannie asked her.

"Well what does your heart tell you baby?"

"That I should…I want to spend the rest of my life with him!" Mannie nodded.

"Then that's your answer! I can't imagine a more perfect couple or a man who could love you more." Celestine smiled. Her phone started buzzing. "Ah, it's time! Come on girls! Mannie, your father is waiting outside the door, you have five minutes!" She hustled everyone out of the room and Mannie sat on a nearby cream leather stool taking deep breaths. 'This is it… after this I am Odd's and he is mine…forever... and that's all I could ever ask for. I love him so much..' Mannie smiled and walked over to the door taking another deep break, spotting her father and nodded.

"Are you ready?" He asked her linking her arm with his.

"More ready than I've ever been."

* * *

><p>Odd was standing up next to the priest and looked over the crowd. There was a bunch of hushed whispers and popular music playing. The turnout was amazing; almost everyone they knew from school was there, but in all honesty he just wanted to get it all over with. While in deep thought he heard the music change from casual pop to the ever so familiar 'Here Comes the Bride' tune, but more classical because Mannie had wanted it that way. Looking out he saw the most beautiful woman of his life walking toward him, he could feel a smile growing across his face and the only person he could see was her. Finally after what felt like an eternity to him, she made it up to where he was standing and he lifted the veil to see the smile on her face.<p>

"Thank you all for making it out today…." He heard the priest start.

* * *

><p>Odd opened his eyes and sighed rolling back over to his side of the bed and opened a little black box he had resting on his nightstand. Inside was a ring covered in diamonds; he was going to ask Mannie to renew their vows…but never got a chance to. He got out of bed and got ready in a gray pant suit with a light pink undershirt Mannie had gotten him about a year before. Aria was already awake and had Kody ready and made breakfast. She quickly stepped up to the plate to help around the house, noticing how Odd's mood had been shifting to be more and more depressed as time went on.<p>

"Is today the day?" Aria asked him. He nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, today's the day sweetie. You ready?" She nodded and grabbed Kody and his diaper bag and they headed to the hospital. They didn't have to check in at the front desk, all the nurses already knew them and they went up to Mannie's room. Odd sat down in the chair next to Mannie and grabbed her hand and kissed it. "Hi baby, it's me Odd. Well, today's our 16th year anniversary and I wrote you a song that I want to sing to you. We all miss you so much and we think of you every day." He put her hand back on the bed and grabbed his guitar from their things. Aria and Kody were sitting near their father watching him. (This song is called Miserably Loving You by Artist VS. Poet, if you haven't heard it go listen to it while you read. It's a beautiful song and I feel like it fits perfectly. I did kind of change some of the lyrics to fit the situation better… but yeah:) lemme know what you thought!) Odd started to strum the guitar and looked at his wife while he started to sing.

'Another day, another day I decide to  
>Waste away and contemplate how<br>Everything has changed.  
>And though we tried, not to compromise what burns inside<br>Your complex mind that changes every day.

These deep breaths repeating  
>(My heart stops its beating)<br>And I don't know why these deep breaths repeating  
>(My heart stops its beating)<br>The sun has yet to set and you've already said good night.' Odd's eyes started to tear up, but his voice stayed firm.

Mannie, please, there's nothing wrong with the way I light up when you're around.  
>Do anything you want, but don't leave me out.<br>Mannie, please, just get closer to me.

A month went by, a month that I can't describe,  
>A month I've been trying to push aside and forget in time.<br>And now we are inches away, but we're miles apart,  
>So I'll dream of the day and how we felt at the start.<br>But dreams don't come easy these days,  
>And the colors, they fade into grays.<p>

These deep breaths repeating  
>(My heart stops its beating)<br>She's determined to stay alive.  
>These deep breaths repeating<br>(My heart stops its beating)  
>The sun has yet to set and you're not here to say good night.<p>

Mannie, please, there's nothing wrong with the way I light up when you're around.  
>Do anything you want, but don't leave me out.<br>Mannie, c'mon, this was going somewhere,  
>I won't let go of what we had<br>'Cause I'm a broken record that keeps on skipping back.  
>And I still miss you.<p>

And I never thought that you'd leave me here all on my own.  
>And I never thought you'd be willing to take away my home.<br>'Cause there's no one to call and I'm so sick of being all alone.  
>Miserably loving you.<p>

Mannie, please, there's nothing wrong with the way I light up when you're around.  
>Do anything you want, but don't leave me out...<br>Mannie, please, there's nothing wrong with the way I light up when you're around.  
>Do anything you want, but don't leave me out.<br>Mannie, c'mon, this was going somewhere,  
>I won't let go of what we had.<br>Now I'm a broken record that keeps on skipping back.  
>Mannie, please, come back to me.' He put the guitar down and sat on the bed next to his wife and grabbed her body hugging it close to him, and he felt her hand squeeze his arm. His eyes started pouring out tears and he lost all control he had. Ulrich and Avril walked in that moment and saw him and Ulrich ran over to comfort his friend. Avril set down the white lilies she had got for them and saw Aria starting to cry as well and hugged her tight.<p>

"Mannie please, I need you here. Come back to me…" Odd was sobbing holding his wife. Mannie was watching all of this from her point of view again…

"I can hear you Odd… I'm trying as hard as I can." She said, starting to break down as well.

* * *

><p><strong>WOOOOOO I FINALLY UPDATED! I'm so sorry y'all I've had writers block on this story for SOO long, but yaaay. Please review and another chapter will be up shortly! I really hope you liked this chapter, it was really hard for me to write because I kept getting emotional, haha. Blah, well review review review! :D <strong>


	4. Return to the Past

**Here is chapter four of this story! I'm not sure how many more chapters of this story there will be... but I'm going to try and keep the total under ten! Heehee. Just so you know I-Breached-Ur-Security, this is still going only for you! Hahahah**

**Til Death Do Us Part**

**Chapter 4: Return to the Past**

* * *

><p>"What is it that I have to do to get out of here?" Mannie asked XANA, staring him down.<p>

"I will make you a deal, Manuela."

'That's never a good sentence to hear from the bad guy…' Mannie thought to herself, her eyes following the pacing man in front of her.

"I'm going to send you back in time; if you can make Odd fall in love with you once again you can have your old life back. If not, you will be a prisoner in here forever and you will help me destroy the world."

"Ha! As if you could destroy the world, don't make me laugh. Maybe you could take down Kadic, but you're not that much of a super machine." XANA grinned at her response.

"I would think you would readily take my offer." XANA shrugged.

"How would you even send me back in time? There must be some sort of catch." Mannie narrowed her eyes.

"Do not worry about how. Yes or no?" XANA asked her. She looked at him, grimacing. 'There must be a reason he wants me out of this world… it's worth a shot though.. I should be able to help them.'

"Fine. I will agree to this arrangement, but on one condition." XANA eyed the grown woman.

"I believe I am the one making the conditions."

"You do not come near any of our children. You must promise no harm will come to any of them." XANA gave her one last sadistic grin, and right before her eyes, there were flashing lights and then everything went black.

Mannie opened her bright blue eyes and felt as though she was whisked away back into her memories. She took a deep breath and heard the almost forgotten humming of the virtualizers. She appeared in the factory, in the virtualization room. "Am I back... in the past?" She took a step out of one of the virtualizers and looked at her reflection. She gasped, and touched her face. She was 16 again, and she was definitely in the past. Her hair was long once again, and very blonde. She had heavy eyeliner on her eyes, and was wearing a short strapless floral dress, and some black flats. Mannie took a deep breath in and looked around. She knew her mission, and that was to find Odd and make him fall in love with her once again.

'I promise you Odd, I will fix this and make it home to you again...' Mannie nodded to herself and then climbed up the ladder to the Supercomputer room, and hit the button to the elevator, and then she went downwards to the forests of Kadic Boarding School.

* * *

><p>Odd had decided to visit his wife at the hospital while Aria was in school, so he packed up Kody's diaper bag and loaded him into the car and drove the twenty minutes to Kadic City Hospital. It had become routine for him, he made his way up to Mannie's room on the fourteenth floor and set Kody in his lap while he scooted the visitor's chair over to Mannie's bed. The bruises from her face had finally started to fade and even though she never stopped being beautiful to him, her radiant beauty was shining through once again. He saw her chest slowly lifting up and down in a consistent manner. Odd heard Kody laughing and looked down to the little boy, who reached out for his mother's hand, so Odd placed his son to lie down on his mothers chest, which made Kody coo in happiness. He sighed and grabbed one of Mannie's hands, lacing their fingers together.<p>

'I wish I didn't just see you in my dreams, you're missing so much of our life together...'

* * *

><p>Mannie had found her way through the forest, déjà vu setting into her brain, but this time it wasn't from Lyoko. She saw her old classmates hanging out with their peers, people she thought she'd never see again. She continued through the campus, looking around avidly. 'Now if my memory serves me right...we used to hang out in the...'<p>

"Odd, get back here!" Mannie heard Yumi call out in an angry tone. She saw Odd laughing and running away from Yumi, and she felt her heart grow tense. She didn't know exactly how they were going to react to her, but knowing XANA, he wouldn't make this easy on her. She smoothed out her long blonde hair and walked over to the group, clearing her throat. Odd stopped in his tracks, and Ulrich snatched the paper in Odd's hand and gave it back to Yumi. Odd looked over at Mannie with a strange expression, almost as if he was weirded out by her.

"Uhh can we help you with something?" Odd asked her, crossing his arms. "Do you even go here?"

"Odd! She's in first period with us!" Mannie heard Aelita whisper harshly as Mannie's face grew hot with a blush.

"Mannie Diazdeleon..." She whispered, staring in Odd's direction.

"Mmmm nope, name doesn't ring a bell!" Odd laughed. Suddenly his face lit up, and Mannie felt hope run through her, maybe he did remember! He stood up and walked over to her, but passed her in a hurried shuffle and ran over to a girl behind her. "Sam! There you are!" Mannie felt her heart sink down into her stomach, and she slowly turned to see Sam with a huge smile on her face being embraced by Odd. "I've been waiting for you all morning." And with that Odd planted a big, fat, sloppy kiss on Sam's lips, Mannie felt sick to her stomach and covered her mouth with her left hand, speedily walked away from the group. The bell rang and she assumed that that meant that it was time for first period. She walked to Hertz' class and looked around the room, she didn't even know if she was supposed to be in this class or where she was supposed to sit! She sighed and walked over to her old seat and sat down. Soon enough, everyone filed in and filled up the seats in the classroom and the tardy bell rang. Of course, Odd ran in last, breathing heavily.

"I'm here! I'm not late! I'm here!" He ran and sat in the seat right behind Mannie, seeing as how it was the only empty seat left in the classroom. 'I guess she _is_ in this class with us...' He eyed her as he sat down. 'How I never noticed a pretty girl like her is beyond me.'

"How nice of you to actually show up for once Mr. Della Robbia." Mrs. Hertz grinned at Odd, picking up a piece of chalk and began to write the lesson plan on the chalk board in front of them, and most students began writing down notes avidly. Odd rolled his eyes at Mrs. Hertz remark, and pulled out a piece of paper, but instead of writing notes, he decided to draw. Mannie had remarkably good memory, and remembered this from a long time ago. Mrs. Hertz walked around the class and dropped off classwork at everyone's desk, and when she got to Odd's desk, she snatched the drawing from Odd's desk.

"Hmmm, this is a remarkable drawing of Ms. Diazdeleon, even though you are sitting behind her." Odd looked at her confused and grabbed his drawing back and looked at it. 'I just met this girl, I can't even draw Sam that good from memory.' He heard a few people snicker, namely Ulrich and Theo, and he turned around and glared at them, but they just looked away and played innocent. Mrs. Hertz slammed the worksheet down on his desk, and after she finished, she sat down at her desk grading other papers.

Mannie breezed through the assignment with ease, she even finished before Jeremy and Aelita! She got up and dropped the paper off at Mrs. Hertz desk who gave her a smile which Mannie returned and walked back to her desk, and Odd was glaring up at her.

"Show off." She heard him grumble as she sat back down, and she sighed.

'This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.'

* * *

><p>Half the day had passed and after Biology, she couldn't find the group anywhere on the Kadic property. She wasn't exactly looking for them though, she needed to find Odd and get him alone so she could talk to him. Even if he wouldn't believe her right away, she needed to at least try. She missed her family and her old life, and she was sure they all missed her too. Speaking of her old life, where was Avril?<p>

"You may as well give up and become XANA's slave." Mannie heard a scratchy voice from behind her, and looked up from tying her shoes. She was in the girls' locker room getting ready for gym. Sam was standing behind her with her arms crossed, with a slight grin on her face. "I've already got Odd wrapped around my finger here, and soon he will be that way in your other world as well." Mannie stood about to say something, but Sam held up her hand to shush her. "This is how life would have been if you had never existed, Odd doesn't remember you because you never interfered in his life. Even if you do get back there, Odd will never love you like he once did. You won't ever be the same, don't you understand? But I can be there for him, I can give him everything he's ever wanted in a wife." Mannie laughed and shook her head.

"Oh Sam, you truly are a simple minded fool. If you think for a second that you or that vermin XANA can destroy what Odd and I have, you are sadly mistaken. We didn't make it through everything together for nothing. I'm not just doing this for him, if you don't remember. Odd and I have a _family_ together. I am the mother to his children. That instantly puts me in a place you could never physically or emotionally reach. Even if you did make him forget me, there will always be that void there that you could _never _fill. Though, don't get me wrong. I have no intentions of losing. I know things about Odd that no one else on this Earth does. Just remember that Samantha." Mannie whispered the last sentence as she walked past the dark skinned girl, tying her hair up in a high ponytail.

* * *

><p>"Alright now 50 pushups and then 150 crunches and you all can rest." Jim was walking down the line of the students with his arms crossed, watching them, making sure no one was being lazy.<p>

"Why don't _you _do 150 crunches, you could sure use them." Odd whined as he pushed himself up and down, blasting through the pushups. Jim narrowed his eyes at the teen and placed his foot on Odd's back which made Odd fall forward and flat on his face. He grumbled sitting up, and rubbed his nose. He looked over and saw Mannie breezing through the workout, she was already onto the crunches. He shook his head and faintly blushed when he caught himself staring. He'd never seen such athletic skill on a girl before, and not to mention how perfect her body was to him. Not even Sam was that attractive... wait, wait, wait, what was he thinking!? Sam would kill him if she knew he was thinking that way. He started over on his pushups, and when he was finished he walked over to the group.

"What do you guys know about that Mannie girl? Why haven't I ever noticed her before?" Odd asked them as he watched her, she was conversing with Theo, and laughing. Odd didn't know why, but he was starting to feel a little...jealous.

"Probably because you and Sam are so enveloped and obsessed with each other that you can't see past her." Ulrich mumbled out loud, texting on his phone.

"Speaking of being 'so enveloped', where is Avril?" Aelita asked Ulrich, smiling. Ulrich blushed and looked the other way.

"I guess she had a doctors appointment or something." He shrugged.

* * *

><p>Odd closed his laptop and fell back onto his bed, sighing. Sam wasn't answering calls and everyone else was busy for the rest of the night. It was almost time for dinner, so he figured he may as well get a head start on the cafeteria before all the good food was gone! He hopped off the bed and slid on his shoes, giving Kiwi a scratch on the head before grabbing his wallet and dorm key, then he walked out of his room and started happily walking toward the cafeteria.<p>

"Odd..." He finally recognized that soft voice, it was that girl, what was her name again? He turned around and saw her standing there behind him, her expression a bit distraught from what he could tell.

"Maria, right?" Odd asked, laughing nervously.

"Mannie. My full name is Manuela, so I guess you were close enough..." She said softly. For some reason she wasn't looking at him in the face.

"Uhh, I'm gonna go get something to eat in the cafeteria. You can join me, if you want?" He gave her a small smile.

"Actually, I need to talk to you about something." Mannie took a few steps closer to him, and he looked at her questioningly.

"And what would that be about?" He heard her sigh.

"How exactly do I... word this? Okay, you have to promise you won't get freaked out." She slowly raised her eyes to meet his, and he felt chills go down his spine.

"Uhhh...kay?" Mannie sighed once more and looked down to the right.

"I'm not...from here. I'm from...a different time." She paused and took a deep breath. "Where I come from, we already finished high school, college, and we're... married." Odd stared at her in disbelief and then started laughing, which frustrated Mannie. "Why are you laughing?!"

"Because you're insane." Odd stated and crossed his arms. "I don't know what looney house they let you out of, but you really need to go back and..."

"Your favorite color is purple. You're terrified of the dark. You have a dog named Kiwi who you would give your life for. Your favorite movie is The Lion King, but you're too embarrassed to tell anyone because you think it's a kids movie. You want to name your first born son Kody, but not spelled in the usual way because you like to be different. You're happiest when you're at home with your crazy five sisters, but you'd never admit that to anyone. Your parents love you more than life it's self. You tell everyone you want to be an artist, but deep down you want to be a record producer and make music because that's _really _you're passion, but you don't think you're good enough. But Odd you _are_, and you want to know how I know that? Because in the future you _will _be a record producer, you'll have two beautiful kids and be an amazing father, a daughter named Aria who is the worst morning person and sleeps like a rock like her father and she has a little purple spot in her hair, _right here_." Mannie pointed to her bangs, and tears were coming to her eyes, and Odd was staring at her wide-eyed. "You'll have a son named Kody who only stops crying when he's in his daddy's arms and is a bottomless pit like his daddy. And I know for a fact since I've come you can't stop thinking about me, or staring at me because I've seen it in your eyes." Odd stared at her for a few seconds longer, and then took two steps back and started laughing again.

"Yeah right. Get away from me before your crazy rubs off on me." He turned around and crossed his arms behind his head and disappeared from Mannie's sight. A few tears fell from her eyes and she fell to the ground, and broke down into tears.

'This isn't fair...I just want my life back.'

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><p><strong>Okay, don't hate me! Hahahah, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and more will come soon! Heehee please review! Thanks for reading! :D <strong>


	5. Wanted

**Til Death Do Us Part**

**Chapter 5: Wanted**

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><p>"How the hell does she know so damn much about me?" Odd grumbled while paying for his food in the lunch line. He admitted to himself, he felt a little remorse for how he acted towards Mannie not so long ago, but who was he kidding? She sounded completely insane. The other students around him and the cafeteria worker stared at him, and he looked around then dashed off towards a table, embarrassed. Had he been talking to himself out loud again? He really needed to work on that.<p>

"Odd there you are!" He heard Ulrich's voice and looked up to see his friends surrounding him, then they took their seats around him, silently thanking The Lord that Sam wasn't there. Weirdly enough, since Mannie had whirlwinded herself into his life, he hadn't really wanted her around him. "When you weren't in our room, I could come to the conclusion that you'd be here."

"You know me, can't keep me away from food." Odd took a big bite of his hamburger and the others laughed quietly. "So Avril where were you today? Ulrich was practically dying without you there." Ulrich's face lit up red and Avril giggled, grabbing his hand.

"I had a doctor's appointment, I told you all that the other day!" Avril looked at Odd. He seemed in an off mood, and when they had approached him at the table he seemed to be deep in thought, which wasn't a common occurrence. "Are you okay, Odd?" She asked him frowning.

"Yeah, I've never seen you think so much in your life." Jeremy crossed his arms leaning back in his chair.

"It's just since Mannie started acting like she actually...knows me.. I've just been so confused."

'Mannie...' Avril sat there in thought. 'Ah yes, that blonde girl.' She remembered to the night before, she had had a dream about Mannie, but she was about 30 years old, give or take a few years. Avril closed her eyes and thought back to the dream.

_She saw her lying in a hospital looking very pale covered in many bruises with many IV machines hooked up to her wrist. She also saw a blonde teenage girl that was a mix between aforementioned Mannie and her good friend Odd. The girl was sitting there crying, holding onto her mom's hand. "Mom...I miss you so much, I wish you were here to talk to me. I have so much I want to tell you." The girl sniffled and rubbed her nose. "Damien even asked me on a date, and I had to ask Dad for help on what to wear. We both know how that would go..." The girl looked over to the door, which opened and revealed a more mature looking Odd holding a smiling little baby boy who was Odd's almost identical twin._

_"Hey Aria, how's Mom doing?" Odd went to stand next to his daughter admiring his wife. The girl sighed, a painful look in her face._

_"Still the same..." She whispered, feeling tears coming to her eyes. She stood up and grabbed her younger brother, walking out the door. Odd watched his daughter leave with sad eyes, and took her seat, taking his wife's hand. He listened to the quiet humming of all the machines she was hooked up to and traced the side of her face with his right hand. _

_"I love you, Mannie..." He whispered. _

Avril reopened her eyes and nodded. That Mannie girl was obviously here for a reason, and she felt as though she had that dream for a reason. She was supposed to help Mannie with whatever mission she had, no matter what it was.

"Avril? Avriiiil heeeelllooo!" Yumi was waving her hand in front of Avril's face and Avril jumped in her chair, completely forgetting where she had been.

"Huh? Oh yeah, sorry. What's up?" Avril tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

"I was asking if you wanted to go dress shopping with me for the dance." Yumi smiled, and Avril nodded.

"Oh yeah! Of course! Just let me know when." Avril smiled, standing. "Listen, I've gotta go. I'll be back later though." She bent down and gave Ulrich a quick kiss on the cheek to which he blushed and ran out of the cafeteria leaving her plate practically full. Odd shrugged and dumped her food on his plate.

"More for me." He grinned as he started to slurp her spaghetti. The others rolled their eyes, and Ulrich watched his girlfriend run out.

'Where did that all come from...?'

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><p>Mannie lay down on her fluffy silver comforter on her stomach, huffing. This would be hard when the whole world was against her. At least her mom remembered her and was as sweet as she could recall. Mannie's hair was tied up in a high bun on her head and she was dressed in PJ's. She had just wanted to go to sleep and figure out a plan to win Odd over, but sleep wasn't coming so easy to her. It was only about 7 o'clock though, so why exactly was she even trying to go to sleep? She pushed herself up onto her knees and sighed, looking around her room. It was exactly as she had it before, minus a few pictures of her used to be best friends, which surprised her. Mannie had expected for it to be different, like everything else.<p>

"Mannie, you have a visitor!" She heard her mother, Celestine, call from downstairs in her sweet sing song voice. She jumped off of her bed and ran downstairs to the kitchen where she saw an old friend sitting on one of the stools at their island table, tapping her fingers on the counter.

"Avril?" She asked aloud, and the girl turned to look at her. Avril once again had long black hair with a single bright purple streak on both sides and radiant purple eyes. She sported a black leather jacket, a red v-neck shirt and some skinny jeans with black velvet booties. "Y-you remember...?" Mannie asked quietly looking around for her mother, who had apparently retired to her room. Avril shook her head, smiling a sad smile.

"I wish I could say I do Mannie, but I don't." Mannie's icy gray eyes stared her down, and then she suddenly grabbed at Avril's wrist and pulled her upstairs to her room. Mannie crossed her arms, and paced as Avril took a seat on the girl's giant king sized bed. "Nice room." She looked around. The walls were painted a deep brown, and the carpets were white as snow.

"So why exactly are you here if you don't remember?" Mannie asked, finally stopping pacing, she turned to look at Avril who gave her a sad smile.

"I...had a dream, I believe it was about you and Odd.." Avril whispered. "Like, in the future or something." Mannie's gray eyes widened and she rushed to sit over next to Avril.

"Wh-what happened in it?" Mannie asked her taking her hands.

"Well I saw an older version of you in a hospital room, an older version of Odd who was carrying the cutest little baby boy, and a teenage girl; I believe her name was...Aria?" Mannie felt her chest tighten at the mention of her children and felt tears coming to her eyes. Oh, how she wanted to hold them in her arms... Mannie sighed, and Avril saw some tears trailing down Mannie's face. "Are those...your children?" Mannie nodded and slowly looked away from Avril, feeling her heart clench.

"If I tell you something, do you promise not to freak out on me like Odd did?" A few more crystal like tears fell from Mannie's eyes, and Avril smiled.

"Believe it or not, I'm not as dense as he is." Avril giggled to herself and saw a small smile coming from Mannie's face.

"Well, where do I even start..." Mannie told her everything. From her own high school life and college, to getting married to Odd, their two kids and finally getting hit by the van on their way to dropping Aria off at school. "XANA somehow got hold of my subconscious, locked it in Lyoko with him and is making me have Odd fall in love all over again...within a week."

"How is that even possible..? For someone to fall in love in a week?" Avril sighed, falling back on Mannie's bed.

"I don't know, but I can see deep down inside him that the feelings are there. I just have to figure out a way to awaken them."

"Well, what was it that made him fall in love with you in the first place?" Mannie pursed her lips, and tapped her chin deep in thought. "Oh! And there's a dance in 6 days! We can totally spruce you up and make him fall for you." Avril jumped up off of her bed. "If a week is all we've got, there's no time to waste! I'll get Ulrich in on this and when we're done with you Odd won't be able to keep his hands off of you!" And with that, Avril was out of Mannie's room and down the stairs. Mannie walked to her window and saw the raven haired girl climb into her car and drive back off in the direction of Kadic.

'Maybe there is a silver lining after all..' Mannie smiled and laid down on her bed, climbing under her covers. 'I think I know what I can do to start this all.. I just have to hope it'll all work out.' She closed her eyes and sleep quickly overtook her being.

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><p>It was 10:05 PM and Odd lay in his bed, shirtless and in boxers. Kiwi was curled up at his feet and his hands were resting above his head. He kept thinking about his conversation with Mannie earlier, and he just could not get it out of his head.<p>

'Because in the future you will be a record producer, you'll have two beautiful kids and be an amazing father, have a daughter named Aria who is the worst morning person and sleeps like a rock like her father and she has a little purple spot in her hair, right here. You'll have a son named Kody who only stops crying when he's in his daddy's arms and is a bottomless pit like his daddy. And I know for a fact since I've come you can't stop thinking about me, or staring at me because I've seen it in your eyes.' Odd remembered the look in her eyes as she spoke to him. Even though he didn't believe a word she said, she definitely believed it. He heard his phone going off again but ignored it, knowing it was Sam. 'I mean it can't just be a coincidence that she knows the two first choices of my future kids' names... I haven't told anyone that.. Not even Sam...' Odd closed his eyes and soon, he was off to sleep.

_Everything was hazy, Odd saw himself standing in a room full of people sitting in rows. To him, it looked pretty much like a wedding. White flowers covered the seats, white drapes hung across the windows, and a crystal chandelier hung from the middle of the ceiling. There was a white carpeted walkway with roses all over the floor that separated two sides of seating, his family and friends, and some more people from school, and some that he didn't recognize. He knew it must have been a dream because there were numerous people running through him. On the right side in the front row, he saw his mom and dad sitting next to his four sisters, and then there was himself standing and conversing with Ulrich. There was a priest setting down a bible and flipping to the appropriate page, and then the lights dimmed, and all the mindless speaking quieted down. Ulrich, Jeremy and William all stood next to him and he could tell that he was nervous, it was written all over his face. "Here Comes The Bride" started to play. 'This wouldn't be my...' Aelita came from the door in a beautiful baby pink dress, then Yumi and finally Avril all filed down the middle walkway as finally, there were gasps among the crowd. He turned and saw her, Mannie walking down the aisle of people, escorted by an older man with dark hair up to meet him by the podium. He had to admit, she looked perfect. She looked just as nervous as he did, but had a smile on her face as he lifted the veil. _

"_You look amazing.." He heard himself whisper to the girl who's already blushing face turned even more red. _

"_We have gathered here today to join this man, and this woman in holy matrimony…" Odd couldn't take his eyes off of Mannie, there was just something so enticing about her that made his heart pound. He watched as the priest went through the whole ceremony. "If there is anyone here who objects, please speak now, or forever…hold your peace." The room was dead silent, minus a few soft cries from Odd and Mannie's mothers. As the priest was once again about to speak, they heard the main entryway doors open and the one and only Sam was standing there in a black gown and veil._

"_I do." She had a smirk on her face and she crossed her arms. "I object." Odd turned to look back at himself and Mannie who had a dangerous glare on her face. She started to take a few steps forward but Odd grabbed her arm and shook his head. He looked down at some men in the crowd who nodded and grabbed Sam by her arms as she started to scream. "No Odd! I can't let you do this, you don't belong with her!" The doors shut, but you could still hear her muffled voice, yelling. "YOU BELONG WITH ME, I WILL HAVE YOU!" There was whispers coming from everyone sitting in the crowd, but Odd looked back up at himself and Mannie who were obviously having a playful conversation of their own. The priest cleared his throat as everyone hushed and he carried on._

"_The rings please." A handsome little boy, who Odd recognized as his cousin, Blaze, brought up two rings on a black velvet pillow. "Do you, Odd Della Robbia take Manuela Diazdeleon to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, til death do you part?" He saw himself pause as a grin crossed his face and reached down to grab Mannie's ring and placed it gently on her finger. _

"_I do." _

_"And do you, Manuela Diazdeleon take Odd Della Robbia as your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer, til death do you part?" Mannie's eyes glistened with tears and one ran down the corner of her eyes and Odd reached up to wipe it away, then Mannie looked down and grabbed Odd's ring and placed it on his finger. She looked back up at him with a smile._

_"I do, 'til death…do we part." _

"_You may now, kiss the bride." And the cheers in the room erupted as Odd grabbed his new wife and gently placed a kiss tender on her lips._

Odd's eyes shot open. The sun was shining bright, and he felt his forehead glistening with sweat. He looked over at Ulrich's bed and saw that it was neatly made, meaning he either never came home last night or left extremely early. Odd checked his phone and saw that it was 7:30 AM. He groaned and fell back down in his bed; he still had 30 minutes before even needing to wake up for school.

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><p><strong>Day 2<strong>

**Days Remaining: 6  
><strong>

Mannie had woken up early and hopped in the shower. She was determined today would be the day she would at least get Odd's attention. He had always been attracted to her, and she knew that even this Odd was by the way that he looked at her. After finishing, she toweled down her hair and hurried back to her room, and entered her walk-in closet. She pulled out what she thought would be the perfect dress and lay it down on her bed, and put the shoes she had picked out down on the floor underneath it. After tapping her chin deep in thought, she smiled and nodded running back into the bathroom, almost slipping on her rug, but she luckily caught herself on the counter. She sighed at her klutziness but then let her hair down from the towel and blow dried her hair. While waiting for her flat iron to heat up, she started on her make-up. She lined her eyes in black with some navy blue eye shadow on the crease of her eyes and white on the inner corners that made her eyes pop. After straightening her hair she went back into her room and threw on her dress, which was a tight white dress that had no sleeves, but started at her neckline and stopped a little below her bum, but had a lacy overlay that went a little further down, about mid-thigh. For shoes, she had decided on some sandal wedges that were white and lacy. She took a step back and looked in her full length body mirror and nodded, happy with her look. 'Today, I will win my husband back over… if it's the last thing I do.'

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><p>"And then he asked me if I was going to be eating the whole thing, and I was like do I <em>look <em>like someone who could eat a whole-… Oh hey Odd! You're looking very…"Aelita turned to see the blonde teen walking over to them, with a sullen look on his face.

"Please, don't start with me right now." He grumbled, sitting on the bench, arms crossed.

"What's the matter with you? Kiwi wake you up from your beauty sleep or somethin'?" Ulrich asked him while ruffling his hair.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. And where were _you _last night?" Odd glared at his friend, batting his hands away, and Ulrich gave him a cheeky smile.

"Doing something you only could _dream _about doing. Speaking of which, I left you alone so you could have some time alone with Sam." Ulrich elbowed him and Odd rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, well I don't know about that since I don't even know if I wanna be with her anymore." Ulrich looked at him with a dumbfounded look on his face.

"You have GOT to be kidding me. You don't mean to tell me that we-"

"Wow… she looks amazing." Odd heard Avril breath and he looked over at her, then to what she was staring at, and his jaw dropped. There was Mannie. If perfection could take the form of a person, it would most definitely be her because he had never seen anyone so beautiful in his life. She was walking towards them and the wind was blowing her hair back. She literally looked like a model on the runway with how fierce her steps were. Time seemed to slow down, and his eyes went up and down her body as he gulped.

"Odd.. I think you're drooling." Aelita giggled as she looked at her friend, who shook his head coming back into reality. As Mannie walked past them, a smirk came onto her face as she noticed the look on Odd's face.

'I'd have say that _that_ was a success.' She made sure to keep her face forward and her head held high until she got past them. The bell rang for first period, and everyone made their way to class.

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><p>"And that students, is how the reproductive system works." Mrs. Hertz finished up her speech and smiled as she saw her students writing down their notes. "Now there won't be any homework tonight," She heard cheers coming from students but she put her hands up, shushing them. "but make sure to study because we will have a big test coming up tomorrow." And then came a few groans. "I expect you all to pass with flying colors." Odd sighed out loud and looked down at his worksheet from the day before.<p>

'I doubt that is gonna happen, I don't get all this biology stuff. Why do we gotta know about all this anyway? We breathe and we poop, what more is there to it?' He pursued his eyebrows and sighed out loud again. He felt something softly hit the back of his head and he slowly turned with a glare covering his face to look at his friend Ulrich. "WHAT?" He whispered harshly.

"Do ya _mind_? Some of us are trying to study." Ulrich whispered back, smirking. Odd rapidly turned back around and rolled his eyes.

"You know Odd, Mannie passed yesterday's worksheets with flying colors. Maybe she could help you study." Odd heard Avril's voice as he looked back to Mannie who was almost sitting diagonal to him, her eyes looking over the papers. There it was, the 100 written in red on her papers. He scowled.

'It's not fair! Beauty _and_ brains?' The bell rang for class to end, and he saw her stack her papers together and put them in a black folder, then she placed the folder into her tote and stood up, leaving the class. He caught himself staring at her retreating form again, and then shook his head. 'Get it together Odd! I will not let this girl have any powers over me! I _am_ the ultimate ladies man after all.'

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><p>The rest of the day passed by with no real drama. He had successfully avoided Sam through most of the day, though he had to turn his phone off because her calls and texts were becoming increasingly more and more obsessive and annoying. But she did manage to find him and chew him out after lunch, stomping away angrily. He had been looking forward to seeing Mannie in P.E., but no such luck. She had apparently skipped, but that wasn't what worried him. He barely knew this girl, and was growing some sort of attachment for her. He never allowed himself to feel attachment for people, especially girls. Well, minus his small group of friends of course. But his mind kept pulling him back to the dream from the night before, how completely stunning she looking in her wedding dress and how she had completely blown him away that morning. This was all just a physical thing, right? He was just lusting after her. That was all it had to be.<p>

"47, 48, 49, 50." Odd dropped the weights on the floor of the gym, and wiped his forehead. It was about four in the afternoon and he had decided to sneak in a workout before dinner. He mainly just wanted to be alone and think, and knowing his friends, none of them would think to find him in the gym working out. He grabbed his towel and swung it over his shoulder after taking off his muscle shirt and poured his water bottle all over his face in an attempt to cool himself down. He left the gym and started to make his way back to his dorms, he would take a shower and then a_ttempt_ to study. As long as he was attempting, he would be getting something accomplished. As he was walking down the hall, something caught his attention. It was in the music room, there was a guitar being strummed, and an angelic voice humming a tune that he was vaguely familiar with but he couldn't exactly place his finger on it. He placed his ear on the door to get a better listen, but then lightly pushed the door to open so he could see who it was humming. And there she was, the girl he had been searching for all day, sitting on the edge of the stage strumming a black guitar.

"_You know I'd fall apart without you_,  
><em> I don't know how you do what you do.<em>  
><em> 'Cause everything that don't make sense about me,<em>  
><em> Makes sense when I'm with you<em>." Then it clicked. The lyrics to a song he had been working on for quite some time, but once again, he had never shared this with anyone.

"_Like everything that's green, girl, I need you_,  
><em> But it's more than one and one makes two<em>.  
><em> Put aside the math and the logic of it<em>,  
><em> You gotta know you're wanted too<em>_." _He had been so caught up in the fact that she knew the lyrics to his song, that he hadn't realized that he started to quietly sing along with her, and that she was now looking at him.

"_'Cause I wanna wrap you up_,  
><em> Wanna kiss your lips<em>.  
><em> I wanna make you feel wanted,<em>  
><em> And I wanna call you mine<em>.  
><em> Wanna hold your hand forever,<em>  
><em> And never let you forget it<em>.  
><em> Yeah, I, I wanna make you feel wanted.<em>" She sang the last word on her own and sat down the guitar next to her and had a small smile on her face.

"How did you find the lyrics to that song...and know how I wanted it to be played? Have you been going through my room? Stalking me?" He asked her, taking a defensive stance. Mannie giggled slightly, patting the spot next to her signalling for him to come sit down. Odd apprehensively took a few steps forward, and then took a seat next to her. She sighed, easing the tension between them.

"Would you believe me if I told you that you sang it to me on the first night of our honeymoon? And every night since then of our anniversary I made you sing it to me." Mannie smiled to herself as she looked over to Odd. "Look, I know you don't believe me about this whole thing but XANA sent me here and-" Odd's face suddenly turned to look at her.

"Did you say XANA?" He asked her incredulously. She nodded slowly, then it hit her.

'I must not have entered Lyoko in this version of the world. Whatever this place is...'

"So then you've been to Lyoko." He whispered.

"Oh you haven't the slightest idea. I shut down Lyoko...well at least we thought I did, and then about 15 years later, XANA decided to go rogue and attack me and my family, and well, now I'm here." Odd stared her down, his deep brown eyes searched her gray ones, as if he was trying to find something. He then sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"Look, I'm not gonna say I believe you and I'm not gonna say I don't. You obviously believe this little story of yours, and you obviously need help with whatever it is you're trying to accomplish, so..." Mannie looked up and saw the familiar look of playfulness running through his eyes.

"So?" Mannie asked him, and he turned to look at her with a smile on his face.

"So, if you help me, I'll help you."

"And what is it exactly that I'll be helping you with, Mr. Della Robbia?"

"Well... I mean, I know you're pretty smart...and I wouldn't exactly call myself the brightest molecule in all of the atoms, but... would you help me study for the Biology test tomorrow?" Odd asked her, putting on the most charming grin he could possibly manage. Mannie felt her heart melt, and she smiled.

"How could I say no to that?" Odd cheered and put his arm around Mannie's shoulders.

"Well then, milady, let me guide you to my humble abode and we shall let the studying commence."

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><p><strong>And there is Chapter 5! I have to say, I'm quite pleased with it. The song in this chapter is called 'Wanted' by Hunter Hayes, but I prefer the cover by Alex Goot. It's a duet, and if you listen to it, it's how I imagined the duet between Mannie and Odd being sung. I wanted to add some more stuff in, but I figured this would be a good place to stop! Next chapter, there will be some drama between Mannie's family and Lyoko, don't think I've forgotten about them, because I haven't! <strong>

**Well, thanks for reading and please review if you want me to update faster.**


	6. The Deal

**Alright, here's the much awaited chapter 6 of Til Death Do Us Part. I hope you all enjoy, and _please don't forget to review_.**

'**Til Death Do Us Part**

**Chapter 6: The Deal**

**Disclaimer: Of course, I do not own Code Lyoko.**

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><p>As you can probably guess, Odd wasn't exactly interested in studying. Although, since Mannie knew Odd in every way conceivably possible, she had managed to help him learn a few things in her own sneaky way seeing as how he wasn't that different than her husband. It was now three days later and she hadn't made much progress in getting him to remember her. In fact, he had seemed to lose interest in her completely. She kicked up her wardrobe a notch, that didn't help, she and Avril had even tried to recreate some of their best memories together, but that didn't help either.<p>

**Day 5**

**Days Remaining: 2**

Mannie sighed, sitting in the cafeteria, pushing around the veggies on her plate that she had remaining. Her chin was resting on her fisted hand and she set down her fork and looked up catching Odd walking towards her. She straightened her posture, furred her eyebrows in confusion, and brushed her bangs back into her braided blonde hair. He pulled out the seat across from her and sighed.

"Is everything…okay, Odd?" She asked him as he took the same pose she had just been in a few seconds prior. He was wearing a dark blue, mid sleeve sweater and some baggy jeans. His face was covered with dismay, which made Mannie frown.

"No, everything's not okay. My parents are coming to visit and they're bringing my sisters." Odd hid his face in his hands and Mannie couldn't help but smile, memories running through her head of when she first met Odd's family. It was a little after their sophomore year, he was going home to visit them, and he had asked Mannie to join him. She had been a little nervous, wondering how intricate his family must be to produce such a strange young man, but she had agreed happily. His sisters were just as crazy and outgoing as Odd, but completely obsessed with their little brother. They pinched his cheeks, and chased him around. And then when they saw Mannie, they fell in love!

"Well, what's the matter with that?" She asked him, her fingers absent mindedly playing with the bottom of her dress. She smiled as she saw the look on his face when he pulled away his hands. His deep brown eyes were widened with anxiety, and he was making a face that she couldn't help but giggle at.

"You don't know my family!" He almost shouted, raising his hands in an overdramatic manner.

'Oh you really have no idea…' She thought to herself, but smiled getting an idea in her head. She straightened out her face and stood sharply grabbing her tray. Odd's eyes followed after her, questioning her sudden movements. He eyed her dress which was white with blue, green and black floral and peacock print and butterfly sleeves. It stopped mid-thigh and showed off her well tanned and toned legs, which began to make him drool. (Peacock ruffle dress on freepeople website) He stood up and scurried after her, after picking his jaw up off the floor. Every time he saw her, she never failed at making his mind go numb and his legs wobbly. "What does this all have to do with me anyways? You seemed to have no problem in ignoring me for the past few days…" She turned to look at him while dumping the remainder of her food in the trash, and he laughed nervously, playing with the sleeves of his shirt.

"Well, I have another favor to ask you.." He avoided eye contact, and she raised her brow, crossing her arms.

"And what exactly would that be?"

"Well… I may or may not have lied to my mom about having a girlfriend…and she said that she was dying to meet her…" He mumbled, but Mannie had no problem making out what he was saying.

"Again, I don't see what this has to do with me." She shrugged and walked past him back towards the table to grab her bag, purposely bumping into him. Odd sighed heavily, trudging after her with an annoyed look on his face.

"Look, will you just please play my girlfriend for the day?" Mannie stopped while bent over, and stared down into her bag. She felt as though her breath had been taken away, and that she had become light headed.

'Did I just really hear that?' She turned her head to look at Odd and saw him staring at her with his arms crossed. "W-what?"

"I know you heard me." His expression didn't change and Mannie stood back up, placing her bag on her shoulder.

"Why me of all the people at this school? I'm sure you could get aaany girl you wanted to help you."

Odd pursued his lips and tapped his chin with his pointer finger. "While that may be true, you seem to be the only girl at this school who knows anything about me... and the only one my mom would even come close to approving." Mannie raised her eyebrow and crossed her arms, in the same manner as Odd.

"And what, exactly, is in this for me?" She asked.

"Well you get to hang out with me, of course." He looked at her as if it should be obvious. "Just come by my dorm tomorrow morning, my parents will be here to pick us up around eleven."

"...fine." Mannie brushed past Odd once again with a smile on her face. 'I guess Fate is on my side today! Maybe things _are_ looking up after all.' She had an extra bit of pep in her step as she stepped through the doors of the cafeteria and felt as though nothing could bring her down. "Take _that_ XANA, when it comes to you, I am invincible." She giggled, yelling to the sky and ignoring the weird looks she was getting from her peers.

* * *

><p>"Damnit! Why can't I get this right?!" Odd grumbled slamming his MacBook shut, he was working on some music for a new album. He leaned back in his chair comfy leather chair, pinching the bridge of his nose, frustration running through his nerves. He looked up to the portrait of his family, all smiling and standing together at the beach which was taken a few months before the accident happened, and he felt his heart swell at the memory. Suddenly, his phone went off and broke him out of his zone. He looked down at his desk and recognized the number as the doctor who over looked Mannie. He felt himself growing nervous, the doctor never called unless it was big news.<p>

Was she awake? Did her condition worsen? The possibilities were endless, but there was only one sure way to find out.

"Hello?" He asked once finding his voice.

"Mr. Della Robbia?"

"This is him.." Odd confirmed standing up, he could never sit still while talking on the phone to this man. He heard the doctor sigh on the other side of the phone and that confirmed that his gut feeling must be right. This wasn't a good call.

"Mr. Della Robbia, I would like to speak to you in person, I just called to confirm that you were coming to visit Manuela within the next few days?" Odd nodded to himself, seeing as how the doctor couldn't tell.

"Well...yes. We were planning on going to visit my wife later on today."

"May I recommend you come and speak with me before you bring your children? I have news that should only be broken to them by a relative and I feel that you may be the best one." Odd blinked, feeling himself grow cold. "Mr. Della Robbia?"

"Y-yes.. I'll be there soon as possible.." He whispered into the phone, and then pulled it from his ear hitting the end button.

'What could this 'news' be?' Odd looked back up to the portrait one last time before grabbing his jacket and keys, and headed for the door. Thankfully for him, his children were in school and at daycare, so he could just head straight to the hospital. Whatever the news was, he didn't even know if _he_ was ready for it.

* * *

><p>"And the answers for the test are as follows. A, C, D, A, A, A, B, E, B, C..." Aria skimmed down the paper of the student's test she was grading, marking off the ones he got incorrect. She sighed as Mrs. Hertz's voice droned on. Aria had felt so withdrawn from everyone as of late. She had trouble wanting to get out of bed, as it was hard for her to just fall asleep. Nightmares of that day haunted her very soul, she was lucky if she even got four hours of sleep at night. Her friends tried to be there for her as much as possible, but there was only so much that they could do.<p>

After they had finished grading the tests, she handed it back to her classmate, and leaned back in her seat, writing down an occasional note during the lecture.

Finally, after what seemed forever, the bell rang and she was released from her last class of the day.

"Ms. Della Robbia, can I please speak with you?" She heard Mrs. Hertz call just as she was about to take a step out of the classroom. Aria stared off into the distance before turning to look at the old grayed woman with blank face, but she was staring down at her desk, grading some papers.

"Yes, Mrs. Hertz?" Aria asked, walking over to her desk. Mrs. Hertz looked up at her with a smile on her face and pushed up her glasses onto her nose.

"I just wanted to check up on you and see how you are doing. Please sit." Aria blanky stared at the woman and sat in the desk directly in front of her desk.

"Listen Mrs. Hertz, this really isn't necessary. I'm perfectly fine and…"

"Yes, and you're about as good of a liar as your mother was." Mrs. Hertz clicked her pen so the ink was inside and set it down. "Your grades are falling, you hardly interact with anyone around you anymore… I really hate to see you like this." Aria didn't make any efforts to answer the woman, but her gaze diverted downwards to the floor. "I know this must be hard on you. I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through, but you must remember to keep yourself in good spirits. I can't even imagine how your mom would feel if she knew you were going through such misery because of her…" Aria lifted her eyes to look at the elder woman again, and she smiled. "I've known your parents for a very long time, and I also know that they love you exponentially. Don't let yourself fall into a hole that you're not able to pick yourself out of… you're a very smart girl, Aria." The little blonde teen felt tears coming to her eyes, and Mrs. Hertz stood and walked around the desk, hugging the girl.

* * *

><p>"Odd Della Robbia." Odd walked up to the front desk of the hospital and signed himself in as usual, waiting to get the sticker badge with his picture on it. He looked around at all the people sitting in the waiting room. Some were crying, some just had devastated looks on their faces, and some were bursting with joy at the news of a new member added to their families. He sighed as the nurse handed him his sticker and he attached it to his gray sweater. He walked to the elevator with his hands in his pockets and pressed the up button, and climbed in once it beeped and the doors opened. He pressed the number '13' and it rose quickly to the level.<p>

He peeked in the window to his wife's room and saw the doctor writing down some information. He sighed before turning the handle on the door and pulling the door open. The doctor turned and smiled seeing Odd standing there at the door and put the clipboard in the pocket at the end of her bed.

"Mr. Della Robbia, please have a seat." The man gestured to the chair next to Mannie's bed. Odd looked over his wife as he walked past her bed and realized just how frail and skinny she had gotten over the past couple of months. Her ring was almost hanging off of her finger, and he felt his heart sink down into his stomach seeing her. It never got easier for him to see her, every time was still like the first time he saw her after the car crash.

"What is this all about Doctor Ferguson?" He asked as he sat and the doctor looked over from him to his wife, and he had a depressed look on his face.

"Well, by the recommendation of our neurosurgeon, we ran a CT scan on your wife and I... have some bad news for you..." Odd continued to stare at the man, feeling nervous to speak. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but the likeliness of your wife ever waking up from this coma is extremely low. Something has caused her brain to stop functioning as it should, and if she ever did wake up, she would be in a very vegetated state. I doubt she would even remember who you or any of your family is... We...feel the best option for you all is to take her out of her misery and take her off of life support."

The world around Odd started in slow motion, his face grew hot and he felt like his heart would stop.

"W-what...? You can't be serious..."

"We, of course, don't need you to make any decisions right now, but it would be ideal if you all could decide by Friday." The doctor looked back at Mannie one last time and then headed to the door. "I will give you some time to decide." The doctor exited the room, and it grew extremely cold. Odd stood and sat on the bed next to Mannie, grabbing the her left hand, and he watched her chest slowly lift up and down with the help of the machine.

"After everything we've been through..." Odd felt tears coming to his eyes as he reached up and traced his wife's thin cheek and jaw with the back of his right hand. "I never thought that XANA would actually be able to take you away from me." He bent over the bed and kissed Mannie on her temple. "I'll be back later with the kids, I love you." When he went to pull away his hand, he felt her give him a small squeeze.


	7. The Kiss

**Til Death Do Us Part**

**Chapter 7: The Kiss  
><strong>

_They say there is a red string of fate tied around the pinky of those who are destined to be soul mates; despite the time, the place, and the circumstances. It is invisible to the naked eye, and the string may get twisted and knotted, but it can _never_ be broken._

* * *

><p><strong>Day 6<strong>

**Days Remaining: 2**

Mannie blinked her icy metallic gray eyes open, brushing away the sleepiness. She lay in between her silky black sheets and the silver comforter digging herself in deeper to hide away from the cool crisp air, thinking back to her dream, and sighed softly.

'_After all this time... I never thought that XANA would succeed in taking you away from me..._' Odd's words rang deep in her head, she felt the pang of emotion hit her hard and tears fell from the outer corners of her eyes.

"You haven't lost me yet Odd. I will _never_ stop fighting for you..." She whispered, closing her eyes, picturing her husband laying in bed next to her, snoring loudly as usual, taking up more than half the bed. She gave a small smile to the memory, and sat up slowly in her bed, stretching. 'All this pain will be worth it when he's back in my arms.'

Mannie got ready for the day, slipping on a royal blue, loose fitting, pull over knitted sweater that hung off one shoulder and went well past her bottom; she wore black leggings and a large brown belt around her waist over top her shirt to accessorize. She donned cat-eye eyeliner around her eyes with some white in the inner corners and put a dash of coral blush on her cheeks and some magenta lipstick on her lips. She also matched her outfit with a pair of short brown leather booties, and gave her hair some wavy loose curls.

Today would be the day that she would reintroduce herself to Odd's family. They adored her the first time they met, so this time would be no different, right?

It was unlike XANA to give her any advantages, which made her iffy about this whole picnic date thing...but she would take any and every chance she got. There was really no point in wasting time, the clock was ticking and she only had two days left. Two days to make her soulmate fall in love with her again. 'I think I'd rather be saving the world right now...' She sighed and laughed to herself as she went back into her room and grabbed her purse heading for school. They only had a half day that day, and Odd's family would pick them up during lunch.

In all honesty, she was excited for this day. Mannie was ready for a little bit of normalcy in her life. She loved Odd's family, they were so...different from everyone else, just like her husband. Not only that but she was ready to get this over with. She was done playing mental games that XANA was obviously controlling and she would never admit it aloud, but slowly winning at too. She took one last look around and left for school.

* * *

><p>"I'm happy to say I'm proud of each and every single one of you. This class got the best test scores of all my other classes, and all the other science teachers. Not one of you failed." Mrs. Hertz smiled, her eyes setting on Odd, who was gazing up at her lazily, probably off in dream land again. "Good job." She grabbed the stack of tests to return to her students and started to hand them all back. Once she got to Odd, she set it down on his desk, and he looked down, feeling astounded.<p>

'An 84?!' He picked up the test and lifted it up, giving it an unbelievable stare.

"I know, I was surprised too." Mrs. Hertz said from behind him. "I don't know what you did differently Mr. Della Robbia, but whatever it was, keep doing it." Odd was still staring at the paper with disbelief, his mouth agape. That was the first time in how long he didn't even know, that he had gotten a grade that high. He looked back at Mannie who was sitting backwards in her chair, talking and laughing with Aelita, probably about the dance tomorrow night.

No other girl he had ever been with had ever shown interest in his school work, it was always a date and then down to business, and down to business usually meant...well you get the idea. The only girl who had ever tied him down was Sam, and SHE was definitely not someone he could ever picture himself staying with. Sure she was beautiful in her own way, but that beauty was mostly only skin deep. On the inside she was mean, selfish, and extremely clingy and obsessive.

Mannie was different, there was a light about her that other girls in this school didn't have. He couldn't put his finger on it, but there was definitely something there that was drawing him towards her.

What he didn't know, is that their souls would forever be intertwined. No matter the course of the future or the past, they would always be destined for each other, and he would never truly be able to forget her. The familiarity and chemistry would always be there between them.

* * *

><p>"We're all going last minute dress shopping, and I know Avril and Yumi really want you there, will you come with?" Aelita smiled up at her new friend as they worked on the worksheet together, and Mannie nodded.<p>

"I'd love to. Odd and I are going to be with his family today, so depending on what time we finish.. But I'll try my best to go." The girl smiled, looking over at Avril and Ulrich who were shamelessly flirting, and her heart swelled at the sight. Some things never changed, no matter the universe they were in. Some people were just meant to be, and no situation could ever change that.

* * *

><p>After pre-cal with Yumi, Mannie headed to Odd and Ulrich's dorm. Room number 423, it was exactly how she had remembered it. Odd's side was always a little messy. Papers and clothes strewn all over, but Ulrich's was perfect to a tee. His bed always made, clothes either in the laundry basket or hanging up, pants folded away. She smiled, seeing Odd's posters all over his wall of random house and techno artists, some indie and some rock. He always had an ever changing taste in music, and that's probably why he was so successful in the future. He always knew what the next big thing would be, and even if he didn't believe it now, it was his calling.<p>

Speaking of which, he was currently on his laptop, remixing a song. He was wearing a deep maroon shawl collar sweater with dark wash jeans.

He turned around hearing Kiwi panting happily, as Mannie had the small pup in her lap, petting his head. Odd's eyes widened and he blinked in confusion.

'Kiwi's never been nice to any of my girlfriend's before...' He shook his head realizing what he was thinking and turned back towards his laptop. 'What am I saying? Mannie's just pretend. Just a ploy for my parents, nothing more.' He put his chin down on his fist, adjusting the levels and adding in sounds, but he couldn't help but feel his eyes trailing back toward the blonde sitting on his bed playing with his best friend. He heard his bed squeak, and the muffled sounds of her steps in the carpet as Mannie walked closer to him, and and he felt her presence grow closer.

"You mind if I try something?" She asked him, and he turned around to look at her with his deep chocolate eyes.

"Sure, but I don't know if you-" Mannie held up her hand, cutting off the blonde boy.

"I've learned a trick or two from the best." She smiled setting down Kiwi, who wined when his paws touched the carpet, pawing at her leg. Odd rolled back in his chair, moving out of her way, as she played the track of music Odd had already created. "This is really amazing, but it's missing a few things." She started to work, adding in effects and Odd watched her intently; doing things he hadn't even thought of. He was impressed. Then his phone started buzzing, and he reached for it.

"It's my mom, they're here." He spoke while reading the text. Mannie stood up and picked up Kiwi giving him a hard squeeze and petting him on the head one last time, she set him down on the floor.

'I've missed you little one.' She thought smiling down at the animal as she reached for her tote. "Well, let's not keep them waiting." She headed for the door and Odd looked back at the screen, hitting save before closing the screen to his laptop, and he followed her out to the front of Kadic.

* * *

><p>"So Mannie, tell us about yourself." Odd's mother, Ariane smiled looking back at the girl. Mannie blushed, as everyone's eyes were on her. The woman had blonde, almost white hair which was braided in an intricate design and fell into a ponytail. She was very short, and skinny, or svelte as Odd would say, but she was also very very beautiful. She had piercing blue eyes that could almost reach down deep into her soul.<p>

"Well, my father is a computer technician. He designs programs and repairs computers, but I haven't seen him in a few years. That's actually why my mother and I moved here to Kadic, in search of him. My mother is a model and helps design fashion in Paris, but in the meantime she lives here with me. I don't have any siblings." Ariane giggled placing a hand on her husbands arm as he continued driving down the road. Odd's father on the other had dirty blonde hair, with brown eyes just like Odd. He had a very kind face, but his face carried many years of worry and hardship.

"That's very different from our family as you can tell. Odd has four sisters, and his parents are both artists. Although, my husband used to serve as a general in the military, but he decided to give that up and live as a freelance artist like myself." Mannie nodded, smiling. Just as she remembered.

"So what do you want to do with your life, Mannie?" Odd's eldest sister, Demi, asked. She had her mothers eyes, and had dyed her hair black, but with blonde underneath.

"...I'm not quite sure, I just know that I want to help the world. There is so much injustice done to everyone and everything in this life, I just want to help." Demi nodded, smiling. The answer must have satisfied her, as she went back to talking to Odd's other sister, Fleur.

"It's not every day we get to meet a girl that Odd is infatuated with." Odd's father, Caïn spoke up.

"Is that what he said, infatuated?" Mannie giggled and smiled, looking over at Odd in the seat next to her. His cheeks had a faint color of red as he looked away, admiring the scenery, pretending to not pay attention.

"He may as well have, dear. I've never heard him speak of a girl in the way he has you. Just a few days ago he-"

"Mom, please." Odd interrupted with an annoyed look on his face.

"Tell us, Manuela. What made you fall for our young lad?" Mannie smiled at the man's word word "lad".

"Well, where do I begin?" She stared off into the distance of the front window before her. She could feel Odd's eyes burning into her, was he really that curious? She closed her eyes recalling the memories, every one hitting her like it had just happened yesterday. "It all started a few years ago. When I first transferred here to Kadic, Odd was the first person I met. I ran into him by complete accident, and of course he made fun of me. I was offended by this, and felt completely worthless, so I made it my personal goal to get back at him. Well this whole rivalry turned eventually into what I call love. I'm not exactly sure what it was that started to make me fall for him, but I did. I certainly know it wasn't love at first sight though, because I despised Odd for the longest time." Mannie opened her eyes, and her steel colored ones connected with Odd's, she smiled. "But deep down, I always knew he was a good person. He had put a wall up between himself and the rest of the world because he didn't want to let himself get hurt. He had seen it happen to too many people around him, and the logical side of his brain, although he doesn't use it much, told him he can't let anyone in. But eventually, after everything, I figured out how to break into that wall, and I saw who he really was. He was a secretly caring person, who would give his life for his closest friends. He's extremely brave, and charming when he wants to be."

"You sound like you really love him, that was beautiful." Ariane wiped at the tears in her eyes.

"I would be lying to you both if I said I didn't." Mannie's eyes finally detached from Odd's as she looked away.

"Well, we're here. Let's go enjoy this beautiful day that we were blessed with." Caïn parked the car, and stretched his back. Mannie opened the door on her side and Odd watched her climb out of the SUV silently.

Was she really speaking the truth? Was that how she felt now, or was it about her life in the past or whatever she called it? Odd had a pretty good idea of when people were lying to his face, but deep in her eyes, it seemed as though she was longing for something, he couldn't see any deception traceable in this girl's whole being. He really didn't understand her, and it was really starting to annoy him. He was usually so good at being able to read girls.

* * *

><p>They all sat down on a big red and white checkered blanket, with the usual brown picnic basket. Odd's mother had prepared a beautiful lunch, peanut butter and jelly, ham and cheese, and turkey and cheese sandwiches. A fruit salad, pasta salad, a home-made strawberry kiwi punch, and for desert, keylime pie, Odd's favorite. Mannie dug in, savoring the taste of all the food. She was going to have to ask Ariane for the recipe of the punch, her own daughter Aria would absolutely die for this, but she wouldn't mention that part.<p>

"Come on Mannie, let's go on a walk." Demi grabbed Mannie's hand and pulled her away from Odd and his parents, the girls all giggled, walking away towards the lake that centered in the park, as Ariane handed Odd another sandwich.

"You know, I've never seen you look at another human being in such a way before, Odd." Ariane spoke, watching her son dig into the bread. He avoided eye contact with her, but she continued. "You've always been a man of many women, something I've never wanted you to be, but I believe this girl may change you for the better. Not that I don't love you as you are son. You could never do anything to make me stop loving you, but I believe this girl may accentuate you in ways others cannot."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Odd mumbled, feeling uncomfortable. and staring down at his food.

"I'm not trying to pressure you into anything my dear son. You have to make your own decisions in your life. But I warn you that if you wait too long, the things that you desire and need most may disappear in front of your very own eyes." Odd's eyes slowly trailed from the ground up to his mothers' smiling face. She always knew how to make him think, something he tried to do rarely, because like right now, it gave him a headache.

* * *

><p>Odd had trailed after his sisters and pretend girlfriend for the day, mainly to make sure none of them said anything to embarrass him. He walked quietly next to Mannie with his hands in his pockets, his cheeks red from the cool autumn air. He noticed how unbelievably well she got along with his sisters. Not even <em>he<em> could get along with them that well. She always said the right thing, even changing the subject when they brought up something he desperately didn't want to talk about it. It was as though she could read his mind and theirs, like she knew them all like the back of her hand. But then again, maybe it was just a girl thing. He nodded, that must be it, just a girl thing.

The group eventually made their way back to Odd's parents who were packing up the blanket and putting all the remaining food items away. They both stood when the others were in sight.

"I have a request." Caïn spoke, pulling out a camera from his wife's purse.

"Whatever it is, you all have been so wonderful to me today." Mannie smiled, nodding. "I couldn't dare turn you all down." Odd saw the look on his mother's face and felt uneasy. What exactly was she planning?

"We want a picture of you two, the sun is setting and it would make such a wonderful memory!" Ariane clasped her hands together with a smile and Mannie looked over to Odd who shrugged.

"Why not?" Mannie closed the distance between them and stood next to Odd who placed his left hand on her hip and Mannie leaned into him.

"Well don't be so prude you two, give us a kiss!" Ariane held up the camera and a dumbfounded look crossed Odd's face.

"You can't be serious."

"Come on Odd, it's just a kiss." Mannie whispered and Odd turned his head to look at her. He stared into her eyes, and then after a moment he nodded.

If it was just a kiss, then why was he so nervous? He turned his body to face Mannie and took in a deep breath. He placed his right hand underneath her chin and slightly tilted her face up towards his and closed the remaining space in between their lips. The electricity hit him like waves on the shore and he felt his body grow warm. He had _never_ felt anything like this in his whole life. Her lips were warm and inviting, and fit into his like a perfect mesh. He felt her hand grasp the back of his neck, and the rest of the world seemed to melt away. The only thing that remained, them.

Their kiss seemed to end just as fast as it started, which was way too soon for him. She pulled her head back and took a step away from Odd. She looked around, expecting the world to disappear from in front of her eyes, but alas, she was still there.

Odd still wasn't in love with her, and might never be. She only had one day left. A little over twenty four hours, and the clock was ticking.

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! I hope Odd wasn't too OOC for you all, but I added in a bunch of fluffiness to make up for the harshness and solemness of last chapter. Just one single chapter left. Don't forget to review! <strong>

**Thanks for reading.**

**XOXO**


	8. Powerless

**'Til Death Do Us Part**

**Chapter 8: Powerless**

* * *

><p>"<em>Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart." ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations<em>

**Day: 7**

**7 Hours Remaining**

_Mannie's POV_

I sat in my room staring blankly at the wall in front of me, it was the next day after our picnic. _How could this possibly be happening?_ After everything I've gone through my whole life, after sacrificing myself for this world God only knows how many times, I thought that I would finally be able to live in peace with my husband and children. I deserve to grow old with Odd, watching my kids have their own, if only that would happen in at least another ten years.

I might _never_ get to see them again. The reality was hitting me, and hard. I was supposed to be getting ready for the dance, but I didn't even have the energy or will to get out of bed. I was about to become XANA's slave for the rest of eternity, possibly even having to destroy my own family. If they weren't destroyed already, that is.

I heard a soft knock on my door, but didn't answer. How could I? I didn't want to be around anyone or anything.

"What do you think you're doing?" I heard a soft voice coming from my door as the one and only Avril entered my room with her hands on her hips. "Why aren't you answering your phone?" She walked over to my bed and crossed her arms.

"What's the point? I've failed. After today I'm going back to be XANA's slave."

"Are you crazy?! You haven't failed yet, and I'm not going to let you." Avril grabbed my hands and pulled me upwards. "I got you a dress yesterday since you failed to come with us. Come on, you're coming with me." I sighed, nodding.

"Fine, fine. You win." I sighed, following Avril down to her car, and quietly watched my surroundings blur by the whole way back to Kadic. After all, this may be the last time I breathe fresh air... Or breathe at all for that matter.

* * *

><p>"I wonder when the girls are gonna get here." Jeremy wondered aloud, to no one really. They were all at the dance, standing around by the punch bowl, mingling among themselves. Odd kept looking towards the door feeling anxious. He hadn't spoken to Mannie since the day before and she flat out ignored him in class earlier. He was anxious, that was really the only way he could describe any emotions that the svelte blonde could muster up.<p>

"Avril texted me and told me that she had to drag Mannie out of her house, so it's probably going to take them a while, but that was a few hours ago." Ulrich shrugged taking a sip from his punch that was slightly tainted with alcohol. He shook his head, feeling the burning as it traveled down his throat.

"Yeah, but they _are_ girls." Odd shrugged. Ulrich and Jeremy laughed at their friends' joke, and Ulrich elbowed Odd in the gut eyeing a figure behind the blonde boy.

"What?" He spun around and there stood Sam behind him. He had to admit, she looked beautiful. Her brown with red streaks shoulder-length hair was bountifully curled, her bangs parted to the side. She had on a short red single sleeve dress that came to a little above mid-thigh and had sparkling red accents on the bust and the single short sleeve, which were opposite of each other. She looked stunning.

"Sam...?" Odd's eyes widened, and the dark skinned girl grinned.

"Who else, baby? Come, dance with me." It definitely wasn't a question, but more of a demand. Something Odd was used to on her part.

He hadn't expected her to even come within twenty feet of him since he had so blatantly ignoring her the past few days. But he figured one dance couldn't hurt, could it?

Odd took a few steps forward, grabbing her hand, and pulled her onward to the dance floor. As almost by perfect timing, a slow song came on. One he didn't really care to remember the name of. He placed his right hand a little above her hips and held her right hand in his left, intertwining their fingers.

The doors to the dance hall opened, and almost all eyes turned to see who was to blame for the intrusion, though some were too engrossed in their partners to even care.

The four girls stood in the door way, staring ahead, all dressed down to the toe in pure perfection. Aelita saw Jeremy and waved, holding her hand up to her face in embarrassment. She wore a short sleeveless dress, the bodice was sweetheart shaped with silver jewels encrusted into the bust, with a baby pink chiffon skirt that stopped short two inches above her knees. She had a pink and silver butterfly clip attached in her hair which pulled back her bangs to the side, and to Jeremy, she couldn't look more perfect.

Next, Avril wore a purple silk one shoulder dress that draped to the floor with three cutouts that looked like a tiger had slashed her dress with silver and purple rhinestones encrusted into it. To put it into words, she looked like a Grecian goddess. Her long hair was curled, and her bangs were pulled back and given some volume, creating a majestic look to her.

Odd hadn't even noticed the girls had come in, even though it was clear that everyone's eyes were on them. It was probably partially Sam's doing since she _had _seen the girls come in, and didn't want Odd to notice. He had finally managed to get her to turn and spin when he set his eyes on her. She looked absolutely outstanding, to say the least. There had to have been someone manning the lights, because it seemed as though there was a spotlight on her. She was wearing a strapless sweetheart dress with a black, silver, and white sequin design and a skirt that ombré'd out to the floor from black to white in a high to low fashion. She had her hair pulled into a low loose bun to the left side with white sequins put randomly into her hair, with black eyeshadow on the outer crease of her eyes. Odd saw her looking around, possibly for him, but she and Yumi grabbed each other's hands and decided to dance together on the other side of the dance floor, and within seconds she disappeared from Odd's sight completely. He sighed seeing that she was gone. Avril had gone off with Ulrich, and Aelita was dancing with Jeremy to another slow song.

Mannie smiled, feeling her heart clench at the thought that this would most likely be the last time she would ever see her friends happy. She had seen Odd dancing with Sam. She had once again felt the inevitable pain of her heart being ripped out of her chest... and once again it was done by Sam. Mannie knew that she had failed. Not only had she failed herself, but she failed her husband, she had failed her friends, and worst of all, she had failed her children who would never have a mother there to help them grow.

Maybe Odd would remarry... The thought made her sick to her stomach to think of him with someone else. Though, she definitely didn't want to watch him live out the rest of his life unhappy. He didn't deserve that, not one bit. Odd deserved love and he most definitely deserved happiness.

That left her children. The idea of another woman nurturing her children through life and guiding them also made her sick. _She_ was their mother, not anyone else. But then again, she had to put her own feelings aside. She wasn't the important one here, _they _were. They had brought her nothing but happiness in their short lives. Aside from, of course, Aria's daily attitude which brought her nothing but grief, but they too, deserved to be happy and loved.

She felt a tear begin to fall from her eye and quickly wiped it away. Carefully though, so that she wouldn't ruin her makeup. A hand lightly held her shoulder, and as not expecting that she turned to see who the culprit was.

"Care to dance?" The boy held out a hand, and Mannie gave a soft smile, nodding.

"I'd love to, Theo."

* * *

><p>"And so if you divide by four, you get the product which is ninety-two." Yumi clasped her hands together, a small smile appeared on her face. "Alright everyone, I want you all to do pages three ninety-six and ninety-seven, evens, for homework." Her eyes scanned the classroom as there were groans coming from her unhappy students. She tucked her bangs behind her ear as her eyes trailed to the young blonde and purple haired girl sitting in the back of the class, doodling. Yumi sighed to herself. It was the five month anniversary of her mom being thrusted into a coma.<p>

When Yumi had awoken that morning, she had gotten a very weary feeling at the pit of her stomach, but neither she nor William could pinpoint what it might be.

She sat down on the chair at her desk and continued grading some worksheets from the days prior, but her gaze continued to be diverted back to Aria.

"Ms. Della Robbia..." Yumi called out, and smiled once Aria gave her, her attention. "Can you come up to my desk please?" Odd had told them about what the doctor said, and the news had honestly taken Yumi aback. How could anyone possibly bare the decision of life or death of the one they loved? Especially given the fact that no one knew if she would even be in a vegetated state upon awakening.

The girl looked around wearily stood and made her way up to Yumi's desk, her eyes kept to the floor her whole way there.

Call it a premonition, but ever since the whole Lyoko thing had happened, all the warriors seemed to have a "sixth sense" about the safety of their friends and loved ones. A familiar feeling hit her, something didn't seem right.

Within the blink of an eye, it all happened. A pole came crashing through the roof of Yumi's classroom and much to her amazement, straight for her and Aria. Instinct kicked in and Yumi lunged for the younger girl knocking her out of the way.

"Everyone, get out of the classroom, NOW." The raven haired teacher yelled, pointing to the door, and within the midst of all the screams from her students, she made eye contact with Aria and mouthed the word "Factory." The young blonde stared at her teacher and close family friend for a few seconds and nodded, running out of the classroom. Yumi rushed to her desk and grabbed her phone before exiting the classroom herself. She dialed a familiar but a somewhat distant number.

"_…hello_?" She heard that familiar high pitched, yet deep and ever so cheerful no matter the circumstances voice answer reluctantly.

"Odd...it's Yumi."

"_Yumi is everything okay? What's going on?_" He must have been able to sense the anxiety in her voice, something he'd always been able to do. She stepped out of the classroom, and felt her heart drop into her stomach. The Kadic campus was in complete and utter chaos. She had trouble speaking the next words, as they hadn't left her mouth in over fifteen years

"Actually, no... I don't want to make you worry, but it's XANA. It's unleashed another attack.."

* * *

><p>It had been a song or two, but she really wasn't paying attention. Mannie had honestly thought Odd would come for her. But who was she kidding? This Odd wasn't HER Odd. Her Odd was off in some other time or dimension, living his life with their children, without her. For the millionth time today, she felt her heart clench in her chest. She hated this feeling; she didn't deserve to feel this way.<p>

"Do you mind if I step in?" The sound of that _voice_ made her heart stop, and her breathing go ragged. It had to have been a dream, just had to have been. She stopped in mid-spin with Theo, and her dance partner gave a small smile and bowed, his hands leading in Mannie's direction. Mannie blinked as Theo backed away, and she slowly turned towards the voice, feeling her heart hammer in her chest. "You look amazing tonight, Mannie, you really do."

Her eyes landed on him after what seemed an eternity. The feeling she got once seeing him was indescribable. There he was, her knight in shining armor, with his arm extended towards her. She couldn't get the thought out of her mind just how unbelievably handsome he was in that moment. She hadn't seen him in a suit since their wedding day, since it was practically impossible to get him in one. He always commented on how it made him feel like an overgrown penguin.

"May I have this dance?" She noticed little beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. Her lack of an answer and inability to form words must have been making him nervous. She graciously smiled, her lips shining from the baby pink lip gloss on her lips.

"I'd love to."

They danced. Mannie had recalled from a few school dances and even their wedding day that Odd was a considerably good dancer. Maybe he had gained that ability from his cat-like reflexes on Lyoko. That would be probably the only thing she ever thanked Lyoko for. He was extremely light on his feet, and guided her in a way that she had almost forgotten. She and her husband hadn't danced, in how long, she could barely remember. She did know though, it had been _too_ too long.

"Where did this sudden change in heart come from?" Mannie asked him curiously, and she heard and saw him give a nervous laugh. If his hand hadn't been in her own, he would have probably been scratching the back of his head. Nervous habit.

"I'm not exactly sure, but since yesterday, something like clicked in me. I'm not sure what it is, but...-"

"I thought you were going to get us _punch_. _This_ doesn't look like punch. Although, I could go for throwing a few punches right about now." Of course, forever ruining Kodak moments in Mannie's life, Sam came waltzing in at the worst moment possible. The red head growled, placing her hands between Mannie and Odd and pushed them apart.

"_What_ is your problem Sam?" Mannie crossed her arms and glared at the girl standing in front of her. Sam's face had started to turn a shade of red visualizing her anger for the world to see.

"MY problem? My problem is that you get everything you want, you ALWAYS have. You got the guy, the house, the kids, the job, the car, the LIFE. And did you deserve ANY of it? OF COURSE NOT. So I've been trying to right your wrongs and make life the way it was SUPPOSED TO BE. Of course, you bat your pretty little lashes at XANA and he gives you another chance to get your freedom." Sam's breathing was erratic, and you could feel the radiating anger coming off of her body. "I mean, what was all my life's work FOR anyways? I reboot Lyoko, I was SO close to destroying you and your damned children so that Odd wouldn't have any ties to you or any way to remember you, and of course just like you, your spawns don't understand the meaning of death. So I had to take the hard way out. Not anymore Mannie, this ends NOW, and I'll be damned if I'm not taking your kids with me." The red haired girl kicked off her heels and _ran_. Mannie stared off into space after her when the realization of what her words really meant.

"No..." She whispered and picked up her feet to run after the girl.

"Wait-" Odd grabbed Mannie's arm, pulling her back and stopping her from any movement forward. "What is going on?"

"Look Odd, I really don't have any time to explain, and I also really don't have the time to wait around for you to start caring. Those are my children, and they mean more than life itself to me." Without another word, Mannie released his grip from her arm and darted after Sam.

There wasn't a moment left to waste.

* * *

><p><strong>1.5 Hours Remaining<strong>

Never in her life had Mannie worried about her children so much. Of course, worrying is a natural part of parenthood, everyone knows that. But they had never been threatened in such a way before. She knew Sam was sadistic, she knew Sam had always tried everything she could do to take Odd from her. Hell, the woman showed up in a black gown at her wedding. If that doesn't raise any alarms, I don't know what would.

She ran as fast as her feet could carry her, away from the auditorium, away from the heart pounding music, and away from the only person who could possibly return her life back to normal.

But if she could save her kids, that was the only thing that mattered. If she could save her kids, her wasted life wouldn't be so meaningless. She would have done the last thing she was meant to do in her life.

It seemed like an eternity had passed by before she got to the factory, and of course to her luck, the elevator was already up to the Supercomputer Room, which meant Sam was already either there or on her way to Lyoko.

Mannie darted up the ladder that led into the Supercomputer room and looked around wearily, not knowing if Sam would be there. Once the coast was clear, she ran over to the computer and started typing in information to try and get some more data, on what to do.

"Need any help?" The voice startled her, and Mannie almost fell out of Jeremy's seat, as she held her hand over her heart. She turned, and Odd poked his head out of the hole in which she just came.

"W-what are you doing here?" Mannie stood, asking him. He finished climbing up the ladder and walked over to Mannie, placing his hands softly on her shoulders.

"I may not be the brightest person out there, but I'm not oblivious to e_verything _around me. That was genuine worry and concern back there, and I'll be damned if I let anything happen to you." Mannie took in a sharp breath, as memories flooded back to her from the past.

"What did you just say?" Odd ignored her question, his cheeks reddening just a little as he walked past her and over to the Supercomputer.

"I'm guessing you need to get into Lyoko to finish whatever this is, and I'm not letting you go in there alone; it's way too dangerous." He shook his head as he typed on a few keys on the keyboard and hit enter as two of the virtualizers lit up on the screen. Odd took a few steps forward towards Mannie and held out his hand, as she stared him down. "Shall we?" Her metallic eyes glistened with tears as she softly grabbed his hand as he led her down the ladder towards the virtualizers. Odd waltzed over to his, and Mannie over to hers. As she was about to step in, she had the sudden urge to say something to Odd. She took a few steps back and looked over at him. He had a small smile on his face, as usual and a confident look in his eyes.

Odd felt her eyes on him, and looked over at her curiously. "What's the matter?" Mannie's gaze was diverted to the floor as she opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. She walked over to him and grabbed his hands, looking deep into his eyes.

"...no matter what happens Odd, I want you to know that I love you wholeheartedly. I know it may not make sense to you now, but I hope that one day it will. You are my everything. You always have been, and always will be." A light inside the virtualizer illuminated and she walked back over to her own virtualizer and took a deep breath as both doors closed, and they were soon pixellated into the world of Lyoko.

* * *

><p>"Damien!" Aria was darting under trees and over logs that were attached to the ground as she darted towards the factory and held her phone up to her face.<p>

"_God, Aria. Where are you? Naomi, Milee, Aldo and I have been looking for you everywhere. They said there was an explosion in the cafeteria, they're sending everyone home." _

"You guys need to get to the factory, I have a feeling this has something to do with that XANA thing." She was really running out of breath, but tried to talk as clearly as she could so he would understand her.

_"And you think that running towards the source of the problem would _help _us. Yeah, that makes a whole lot of sense." _

_"_It wasn't _my _idea, genius. Aunt Yumi told me to head there."

"_You couldn't at least wait for me!? Who the hell is supposed to keep you safe, Lord knows you have enough problems with that as it is." _Aria could hear Damien getting frustrated on the other end, but she just grumbled through her anger.

"Just get to the damn factory!" She hit the "end" button on her phone and looked up to see the aforementioned building finally coming into view. 'I just hope all of this is worth it... I don't know what's going to happen, but I can feel deep down inside that it's something big.'

* * *

><p><em>Mannie<em>

If you had asked me sixteen years ago what I thought my life would be like, I would tell you that I imagined myself to be living with my husband, six kids (don't ask, that's what he originally wanted. I know, I know crazy.) on an ocean front property in Northern France. Kadic always held an immense amount of memories for me, and always will. But no matter how much I wanted to, I was always drawn back to this city, as were the rest of the group. Perhaps it was the factory and our ties to Lyoko, perhaps it was the fact that we all felt that those experiences created a bond that no one, except us, could possibly understand.

I _can _tell you that I would never ever wish a burden like Lyoko on anyone. Not even my worst enemies. There's always the fear that anyone's life could be over in the blink of an eye. There was always the fact that _something _could happen to everyone we ever knew or cared about, and they would be forever affected by that.

I could also tell you that I would have never expected any of our children, much less my own _daughter _to be subjected to such a burden or treachery.

"Come on Damien, we have to go see if we can figure out what's been causing all that destruction. We can't let this keep happening." Hearing her voice brought me to a standstill. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe. I turned and saw her, Ariane Celestine Della Robbia. My beautiful fifteen year old angel. The voice I hadn't heard in what felt like ages, the face I dared to only see in my dreams.

"Hey Mannie, is everything ok-..." Odd turned to look at me, probably confused as to why I stopped, but seeing me, and then seeing his own _daughter_ must have caught his breath. But there was no real way he could ever know it was her. But seeing her here, in Lyoko, brought on so much feelings of guilt and how much of a failure I really am.

"M-mom..?" I heard Aria's voice and winced, truly wishing she wasn't here, and was back in her bed at home safe and sound. I felt my heart beat growing, increasingly and slowly turned to look at her. She was a literal twin of myself when I first entered Lyoko, of course with a few of Odd's features thrown in there. Her green eyes were still wide in shock as she took a few steps forward in proceeded caution. It wasn't the first time that XANA had tricked her with an illusion of her mother.

"Yes sweetie...it's me." If it were possible, tears would be coming to the teen girls' eyes, and she darted forward forgetting about everything else going on in her life and wrapped her arms tightly around her mother.

"Well well well, what a beautiful family reunion." That voice brought me back to my senses. My head snapped towards Odd's direction, and I saw William standing there, a smirk on his face, arms crossed, and a dark look in his eyes. Then it donned on me, I had never seen him in Kadic Boarding, so we hadn't freed him of Lyoko yet. Of course, standing next to him was the evil witch herself, Sam.

"I'm sorry to tell you this, but we'll have to cut it a little bit short. You know, XANA wanting to bring on impending doom to you, and all."

"Why are you doing this Sam?" Odd asked, crossing his arms, an angry look on his face. I heard the girl scoff and then she shook her head.

"Please Odd, don't tell me you plan on defending that bitch? You and I could have so much more than anything s_he _could ever give you." He turned to look at me and Aria as I pulled away from my daughter, as much as it pained me to do so. I cupped her face in my hands and sighed, looking into her eyes.

"Aria, you need to get out of here. I want nothing more than to protect you, and I can't do that if you're in here. There's too much risk. Please. Make sure you all get as far away from Kadic as possible, and I mean all of you."

"B-but what about you?" I could see her lip quivering, I knew she was terrified, but as her mother, I had to reassure her.

"I'm going to be fine. I've dealt with XANA hundreds of times, if not more. Please, just whatever you do, make sure your father stays away from the factory." Aria stared at me for one last second and then she turned to face Damien.

"Let's go..." She whispered, and took one last look back at me, giving me a small sad smile.

* * *

><p><em>Normal POV<em>

In the flash of an instant, Sam was in front of Mannie trying to get rid of her. The blade seared over Mannie's head as she dodged it almost expertly. She may have been a little out of practice, but once a warrior, always a warrior. Sam sneered, her black eyes radiating with anger.

"I will get rid of you, this is your end Mannie, and my beginning."

"You keep saying that, if you truly mean it, then make it happen." Mannie's scythe appeared in her hand and Sam's blade, and the metal rod in Mannie's hand clinked as they connected. She lifted her eyes to see Odd dodging William's forceful attacks, and guilt hit Mannie like a truck. 'He doesn't need to be dragged into this.' Mannie did a backflip and swung the scythe over her head as it connected with Sam's sword. She jumped over the dark skinned girl and ran forth towards Odd, grabbing his hand.

"We need to come up with a plan, and I can't do that with them trying to annihilate us right here." She pulled him, running off in the distance with Sam and William hot on their trail.

"What're we going to do?" Odd yelled, as the virtual wind pushed past them. It must have been a new added feature, one he hadn't noticed before.

"I...I don't know. I need to find a way to get to XANA though." Mannie's eyes were down cast, but she raised them once they got to the edge of the platform. She looked back to Odd, and he nodded. They started hopping over the rocks that floated in the air to the other side. "Can you destroy those? I know it may seem like a long shot, but it may give us a little more time." Odd nodded and began to shoot his arrows at the rocks that floated behind them, and Mannie swung her scythe around her fingers before destroying the one directly behind them. 'Well, there's no going back now.' She stared off into the distance, and felt her arm being grabbed from behind her. She turned, feeling confused and saw Odd staring at her with a strange look in his eyes. "Is.. everything okay?" He shook his head, and she realized that strange look to be concern.

"I've just had this nagging feeling at me all day, and now I'm beginning to realize what that may be." As Mannie began to open her mouth to reply, Odd quickly took the chance and placed his lips onto hers. There was that feeling again. Like electrostatic waves crashing through him, his body filled up with warmth and he pulled her closer, feeling her hands reaching up into his hair. And then it hit him.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

Odd was pacing back and forth in the waiting room, the white walls and white tiled floors, with the occasional black tile, definitely wasn't helping. The cold air reminded him of where he was. It had been what, eight, maybe nine hours? He felt so uneasy, of course with all their luck, something would go wrong. Everything in his life had a point of going wrong._ Nothing_ ever worked out for him. It couldn't have been a coincidence that Mannie would have gotten pregnant almost right after they had gotten married. He had just wanted a few years with his new wife before they started a family. _Family._ The word resonated in his head. In just a few hours, he would be a father. He was barely twenty years old, and already a _father. _He barely had the maturity to act as a husband, how the hell was he supposed to take care of a c_hild_. Someone completely dependent on him... And of course, the labor would go completely _wrong_. He knew Mannie's life was at risk, and so was this child's. But God forbid anything happen to Mannie, how was he supposed to face the child who took away the love of his life. He slumped down in the chair behind him and placed his face in his hands, guilt and worry overwhelming him. Everyone else was in Montpellier on winter vacation, Odd and Mannie were supposed to join them earlier that day, but Mannie suddenly went into labor while they were packing her things, and her instinct told her that something was _very very _wrong.

"Mr. Della Robbia?" A soft voice called to him from his right. It took him a second, but he looked over to see the blonde nurse who was helping out Mannie peeked her head out to look at Odd, a small smile gracing her face. "If you'd like to follow me, there's someone I'm sure you'd like to meet." He felt his heart pounding in his chest, and all the blood rushing to his face. He slowly stood once he felt his feet would hold his weight, and started to walk towards the nurse who held the door open for him, and he followed her to Mannie's Labor and Delivery room. He felt himself take in a deep breath as he turned the knob on the door and poked his head in. There laid Mannie on the bed, cradling a swaddle in her arms, rocking it back and forth, humming a familiar children's lullabye. Her eyes lifted towards him as he apprehensively took a few steps forward and a smile graced her face.

"Well hello handsome, I haven't seen you in a while." Her voice was soft, yet warming to his heart. He felt tears coming to his eyes as he saw her very flushed face, her cracked red lips, and blonde sweat tangled hair. But to him, she couldn't be more beautiful.

"Mannie, I'm sorry I-" She held her hand up, hushing him, but the smile still remained.

"No apologies. Right now, there's someone you really do need to meet." She held the object out in her arms to him, and he made his way around to the left side of her bed, and peeked at what she was holding. There in her arms, held the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. A pink hat covered the infants head as she was wrapped up in multiple receiving blankets. She had bright dark colored eyes, which would eventually change into green about a year later, and lots and lots of blonde hair.

"Is that...?"

"This is your daughter, Odd. This is _our_ daughter." The words sounded so foreign to him, but he suddenly realized he had never been so damn happy in his life. Odd timidly took the little girl from his wife's arms, and with a little help from Mannie, held her close. All his worries from out in the hall previously vanished into thin air. "I was thinking Ariane Celestine. What do you think?"

"Sounds a little out there, don't you think?" He couldn't take his eyes off the little girl, but he could sense Mannie's smile.

"And what? Odd is a _normal _name?" She giggled and stared at the two lovingly. This was the start of her family. _Their _family. Something dear that she would never forget.

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

Odd kicked the door open after a little help from his newlywed wife placing the keycard in the slot of their honeymoon suite door.

"Well that was... graceful.." She giggled in his arms. Odd was holding her bridal style, and while she wasn't wearing her wedding gown, she was wearing her dress from the reception afterwards. The two were admittedly a little intoxicated, which explained Odd's strange way of opening the door. She took a good look around, the room was dimly lit with white candles on both of the nightstands, and the countertops of the bathroom, the bed which had white silk sheets and a white comforter, had pink, white, and red roses strewn across it, with 'I Love You' written in rose petals at the foot of the bed, and on the right nightstand there were two glasses of white wine with a newly opened bottle.

"Hey, the door had to be opened somehow." He made his way over to the bed, and tossed her onto it.

"Hey! That was uncalled for." Mannie groaned sitting up, and he bent down pulling her forward and into a deep loving kiss. Although, he pulled away quickly and grinned, pulling off his jacket.

"I have a surprise for you." Mannie once again groaned, letting herself fall back onto the bed.

"Odd, although I do love you so so much... after all this time, I don't think you need to refer to it as a 'surprise'." She rubbed her temples, and heard him rummaging through the closet of their hotel by the bathroom.

"Aha! Here it is! And that's _not _what I meant, but I'll keep that in mind, _wifey dearest._" He walked out of the closet with his guitar in hand.

"What are you doing?" She asked, sitting up on the bed, leaning back on her hands.

"What does it look like, I'm going to serenade you, duh." He pulled the chair over from the desk next to the bed and sat down across from Mannie. Both of their faces flushed and Mannie giggled.

"Odd, I don't know if you know how this honeymoon thing works, but you don't _have _to sing me songs to get me to sleep with you. It's kind of a given." Odd's face turned even more red from embarrassment, but shook his head and began to strum the guitar. Clearly, the alcohol was getting to his wife, and he needed to do this before it was too late.

"_You know I'd fall apart without you_  
><em>I don't know how you do what you do<em>  
><em>'Cause everything that don't make sense about me<em>  
><em>Makes sense when I'm with you<em>."

"_Like everything that's green, girl, I need you_  
><em>But it's more than one and one makes two<em>  
><em>Put aside the math and the logic of it<em>  
><em>You gotta know you're wanted too<em>."

"'_Cause I wanna wrap you up_  
><em>Wanna kiss your lips<em>  
><em>I wanna make you feel wanted<em>  
><em>And I wanna call you mine<em>  
><em>Wanna hold your hand forever<em>  
><em>And never let you forget it<em>  
><em>Yeah, I, I wanna make you feel wanted.<em>" He looked up into her eyes which he had yet to do, and saw tears forming at the corners of them. He had hoped it was out of happiness, and not complete disgust for the song.

"_Anyone can tell you you're pretty, yeah_  
><em>And you get that all the time, I know you do<em>  
><em>But your beauty's deeper than the make-up<em>  
><em>And I wanna show you what I see tonight...<em>

_When I wrap you up_  
><em>When I kiss your lips.<em>  
><em>I wanna make you feel wanted<em>  
><em>And I wanna call you mine<em>  
><em>Wanna hold your hand forever<em>  
><em>And never let you forget it<em>  
><em>'Cause, baby, I, I wanna make you feel wanted<em>."

_"As good as you make me feel_  
><em>I wanna make you feel better<em>  
><em>Better than your fairy tales<em>  
><em>Better than your best dreams<em>  
><em>You're more than everything I need<em>  
><em>You're all I ever wanted<em>  
><em>All I ever wanted<em>

_And I just wanna wrap you up_  
><em>Wanna kiss your lips<em>  
><em>I wanna make you feel wanted<em>  
><em>And I wanna call you mine<em>  
><em>Wanna hold your hand forever<em>  
><em>And never let you forget it<em>  
><em>Yeah, I wanna make you feel wanted<em>  
><em>Baby, I wanna make you feel wanted<em>

_You'll always be wanted._" With the last strumming chord of the guitar he pulled it away from his body, and within seconds Mannie had pounced on him, knocking the chair backward, and hugging him tightly. He felt tears wetten his shirt and hit his shirt and he set the guitar down next to him. He pulled her back from him and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Please don't tell me you hated it that much..." He sighed, and Mannie laughed, slapping his shoulder lightly.

"Don't you dare say such a thing. That was the most beautiful song I've ever heard. I love you, Mr. Della Robbia."

"And I love you, Mrs. Della Robbia." Within moments, their lips collided and their love for each other was once again, made blissfully aware.

* * *

><p>Odd's eyes widened and he pulled back from the kiss, which made Mannie's eyes shoot open.<p>

"Y-you..and I.. oh my God.." He looked back down at her and ran his finger up and down her cheek in a loving manner.

"MANNIE!" A screeching voice was heard from behind Mannie, as her body stiffened.

"We need to go." She grabbed Odd's hand and ran towards the nearest tower. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she felt lightheaded. 'Where do I go, what do I do?' She thought to herself, suddenly feeling so overwhelmed.

"Not. So. Fast." That deep menacing voice would be recognizable anywhere. She turned around and saw him standing behind Odd, with his sword through Odd's chest.

"William... What?! How... but we were..."

"I'm so.. sorry..." Odd's voice faded, as did his body and his hand tightened in her grasp before it too, faded into nothing.

"Well well well, looks like it's just the three of us then." Sam's voice rang as she appeared through the tower, a smug look on her face. "How does it feel to be a complete and total failure Manuela Diazdeleon?"

"That's Manuela Della Robbia to _you, _Samantha." Mannie growled, turning around on her heel and she swung her scythe which came close to making contact with Sam's face. But devirtualizing Sam wasn't what Mannie wanted. That wouldn't help her in the least. She felt William's presence darting towards her from behind and turned, placing the blade of her scythe up just in time to block his turned her head and a plan started to formulate in her head. She only had _one _shot at this. If it didn't work, she would truly meet her demise. Mannie ducked under another one of Sam's swings and ran towards the tower.

"Don't think you're getting away from me this time!" Sam called after her, and Mannie kept her eyes on the path in front of her, her hand twisting to tighten her grip on her scythe.

'That's what I'm hoping for.' Once reaching the tower, instead of running inside of it, she darted behind it and tried to catch her breath. 'If I make it out of this alive, I'm going to start jogging daily, and Odd's going to join me whether his lazy butt likes it or not.'

Hearing Sam's footsteps coming closer, Mannie made her way to the cliff and looked down into the deep depths of the void. Her heart started pounding in her chest again and she held her scythe above her head and lodged it into the ground beneath her feet. She took in a deep breath, and closed her eyes, and leaped off the side of the cliff. Luckily she had enough force behind her jump, she swung herself over the edge of the side and back over, where Sam just so happened to be standing. Mannie's foot connected with Sam's head, making the dark skinned girl lose balance, and to her dismay, over the edge of the cliff, into the eternal abyss. Sam's eyes widened as she realized what was happened, and she reached for anything, anything that would help her from falling.

"XANA no! No you can't let this happen. You PROMISED."

"That's what happens when you make a deal with the devil." Mannie whispered, watching her life's sworn enemy fall into the depths. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. All that was left was to deal with XANA.

Mannie's eyes widened as she felt a sharp pain coming in through her abdomen. She heard a low guttural chuckle, and hot breath suddenly hit her ear.

"You forgot me." The whisper was harsh as William lodged his sword deeper into her and she winced. She had never felt pain like this in Lyoko before, but the reality was becoming harsh. She lifted her hand and placed it on the blade as she attempted to push it out of her body.

'No... I will not end like this.' She clenched her eyes shut as she felt William pull back. 'No.. this is not the end.' She forced herself to stand, and turned towards her old friend. 'I can't kill him... I have to figure out a way...' Her gaze diverted from William to the tower that stood behind him, and mentally nodded to herself. 'This is it..' Mannie forced herself to lift up her scythe and ran towards him with it in both hands. She swung at him, but he easily dodged the scythe. She threw the weapon out of her hands and darted towards the tower. This was all about timing, and every step and motion counted.

She reached the tower and ran towards the center, feeling herself being lifted into the air, she saw the keypad coming closer and closer to her. As she took a step onto the platform she was risen to, she walked over to the keypad as the virtual screen appeared. There was a cursor blinking, as if waiting for her to type something. 'There's only one possibility...'

'CODE: LYOKO' She watched her fingers, making sure none of them missed, and hit enter once she was sure she had everything correct.

White flashing lights. It was so bright, Mannie had to clench her eyes shut. She heard the familiar sound of humming, and then everything went black.

* * *

><p>Aria's feet hit the pavement, and she ran. Yumi had driven all of them to the hospital after hearing about everything that happened in Lyoko, and they all wanted to be there to see what would happen with Mannie, <em>if <em>anything would happen. She didn't have time to wait for automatic doors, so she pushed through the single door in the lobby of the hotel and to through the door to the stairs. She didn't have time to wait for the elevator, nothing could bring her to her mother faster than her own two feet. Even if she did have to run up thirteen flights of stairs.

After what seemed an eternity, she finally made it to the thirteenth floor, and pushed the door to room '1305' open to see her father, Ulrich, and Avril all standing in the room. Avril's face was tear-stained, and Ulrich had his arm wrapped around his wife's shoulder pulling her close to him.

"...dad.. what's going on?" Odd's face looked almost as pale as a ghost when his daughter walked in, and he took a few steps forward grabbing her in his arms.

"I'm so glad you're safe."

"Yeah dad, I'm fine." Aria pulled back from the hug, and looked at him with the same baffled expression. "What's going on?" Odd opened his mouth, and looked up when the door swung open from behind his daughter.

"Ah, Mr. Della Robbia, you're here. I brought the papers for you, all we need is your signature." Aria turned her head as she heard Avril give a muffled sob into her hands.

"Papers? Dad, _what is going on_?" Aria's voice was starting to rise as she took a few steps back from her father.

"Aria sweetie, you have to understand. This is for the best..." Odd's voice was soft as he smoothed the hair on his daughters head. She looked up at him, seeing the dark circles under his eyes which were slightly puffy from the crying he had probably been doing the night before. Then it dawned on her.

"No...no! NO! You can't! You can't just give up on mom like that! She's going to make it out alive!"

"Young lady, you have to understand. The statistical probability of your mother surviving anything from which she suffered is of the least likely percentage. It's in the 2 percent range-"

"I don't give a damn about your statistical percentage! I know my mom, and I know she's going to survive this." The tears that had been forming themselves started to pour down her face, Odd wrapped his arms around her again and held her close.

"I know sweetie... I know mom's a fighter, believe me, I know better than anyone.. but even if she does survive, she may never be able to move again.. she wouldn't even be able to think or eat for herself. Do you want her to live her life that way? Don't think this was an easy decision for me, because it wasn't. I would gladly take care of your mother for the rest of her life if that meant I got to be with her forever, but living that way isn't living at all, and I just want her to be happy. Avril, can you..hold her please." Odd looked up at his wife's best friend, and through sobs, spoke from his heart. She nodded and held out her hands to Aria who ran into Avril's arms. Odd walked over to the doctor, and felt himself unable to breathe as he held the paper that held his wife's life in the depths of it's ink. He read over the paper, how many times, he was unsure. Grabbing the pen in his left hand, which was shaking uncontrollably, he took one last glance at Mannie, whose chest was slowly lifting up and down. He looked down at the paper, and signed her life away.

He stared at the paper one last time before handing it to the doctor, keeping his eyes on the ground. The doctor nodded, putting his hand on Odd's shoulder.

"I can only imagine how you are feeling right now. I know it may be hard, but I can assure you, Mr. Della Robbia, it is for the best." With that, the doctor walked out the door and into the hall, collecting a few nurses to get everything ready.

* * *

><p>"Mr. Della Robbia, my name's Nikia, I'm here to take care of your wife. Did you all get to say your goodbyes?" The nurse looked around the room at the stale faces of her patients' visitors. None of them made a move or said a word, they all just stared at the woman lying in the bed. "Well, I suppose we will get on with this then, and then you all can say your goodbyes." The nurse walked over to the bed, and began detaching things from Mannie, IV's, and other things, but she left the heart monitor and breathing mask on. "Now when I take this breathing mask off and turn off this machine, that will be it, do you understand?" She turned around, and once again, there was no movement or sound. The brunette woman sighed and looked at the woman lying in the bed. 'What a waste...she was so beautiful..' Nikia turned her attention back towards the machines, and took in a deep breath, and pushed the button, turning off the machine.<p>

**BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP.**

**BEEP BEEP BEEP.**

**BEEP BEEP.**

**BEEP BEEP.**

**BEEP BEEP.**

**BEEP.**

**BEEEEEEEEEP.**

**BEEEP.**

_Flatline._

"Take all the time you need. I am so sorry for your loss." The nurse placed her hand on Odd's shoulder, as he watched Mannie's body take it's final breath, and felt his body gravitate towards the floor in disbelief. She was gone. She was really...gone.

"No! No no no no!" He heard his daughters' voice crying out, as she started thrashing around in Avril's arms. "This isn't fair! You can't do this to me! You promised me you'd never leave me alone!" The girl ran to her mother's body and collapsed hugging her close. "You promised..." She whispered and clenched her eyes shut, as the tears flowed out, staining the sheets on her mothers' bed.

He could only hear the pounding of his heart in his head as he held his face in his hands. He failed her. He failed to protect the one and only true love in his life. _And then..._

**BEEP.**

**BEEP. **

**BEEP. **Aria lifted her head and looked over at the heart monitor, wiping her eyes, making sure her clouded eyes weren't deceiving her.

**BEEP BEEP.**

**BEEP BEEP BEEP.**

"There's no way..." Avril breathed as she pulled herself away from Ulrich as she also stared in disbelief.

"DOCTOR FERGUSON!" Odd's voice roared as he jumped onto his feet and ran out the door, and saw the doctor conversing with another standing in the hall. "Will you _please _care to explain to me why my wife's heart monitor is going insane when she's supposed to be _dead_." The doctor's eyes widened and he hurriedly rushed into the room, staring in disbelief. Odd followed in after him, and as soon as he took a step in, his wife sat up, taking in a deep breath as her eyes widened, looking around. Every breath she took in after that was deep and ragged, and she held her head as she felt it pounding. Odd's eyes widened, and he pushed past the doctor and sat on the edge of her bed. "M-mannie...?"

"Mom!?" Aria covered her mouth and stared at the frail woman in disbelief as she looked around the room at them, clearly confused.

"Wh-whe...who...?" She whispered, and Odd stared at her delicately with his chocolate brown eyes, taking in every one of her movements.

"Mannie, it's me.. Odd... your husband." He took her hand in his, and she almost immediately retracted it, looking at him, now with scared eyes. He took a step back off of the bed and turned to look at the others, and with a sigh he lifted his eyes to his daughter. "She doesn't remember."


	9. Epilogue

**'Til Death Do Us Part**

**Chapter 9: Epilogue**

* * *

><p>It took three weeks before they had allowed Mannie to leave the hospital. They had hopes of helping her recover her memory before sending her home, but no matter what treatment they gave her, she never remembered. Although, she did happen to leave them all baffled, returning to life when she had less than a 2 percent chance. The doctors declared it a miracle, the Lyoko warriors however, declared it fate. Mannie had returned to Odd and her's home, but quickly grew uncomfortable as having almost no idea who he was. He didn't want to force anything on her, he was just glad to have her back in his life, kicking and breathing on her own, even if he couldn't quite call her his.<p>

Now, it was one year and a couple of months later, Mannie was still living with Avril and Ulrich, the only ones she deemed comfortable to live with. Today was Aria's seventeenth birthday, and they would all be heading over to Odd's house for the party. Even though Mannie still couldn't remember her daughter, she still had that motherly love and pull towards her and Kody that would never go away.

"Well Mannie, we're all ready to go. Are you about finished?" Avril walked into Mannie's room, with a smile on her face. Avril was wearing a royal blue sweater with a black thick scarf tied around her neck and some dark wash skinny jeans tucked into some UGG booties. Her raven black hair was pulled up into a ponytail, with her bangs braided across her hairline and tucked behind her ear. She had a white bow tied into the ponytail, and maroon shaded lipstick on her lips.

"Y-yeah, I'm ready." Mannie stood, playing with the diamond ring on her left hand. She had wanted to take it off, but when she did she felt at a loss, so she asked Odd if she could keep it, and he agreed. Her hair had grown a few inches longer, she curled it in honor of the Holidays, and had her bangs parted to the left side. "You know, you would think I would remember my own daughters' birthday being Christmas Eve..but I don't." Mannie sighed, tucking her bangs behind her ear. She wore white glittery eyeliner on her eyes and curled her lashes, and also donned maroon colored lipstick. She wore a white sweater-dress that was low-cut and stopped about mid-thigh. She had on dark red leggings with brown UGGs like Avril.

"You look beautiful. Odd's not going to be able to keep his hands off of you." Avril joked, looking Mannie in the eyes, who rolled hers.

"Oh please, he's such a flirt. Of course he's not going to be able to." Mannie laughed, walking over to her bed and finished packing things into her purse. Avril's eyes trailed after Mannie, as she began to walk over to the door.

'Well, the only person he flirts with is you... and he _is _your husband.' Avril sighed, thinking to herself. "I'll meet you down at the car."

* * *

><p>The Della Robbia house was adorned in Christmas decorations. There was a wreath, white lights and garland outlining the front door. Damian was the first out of Ulrich and Avril's car, running up the steps, and pounding on the front door.<p>

Ever since the accident, Damian had found the courage and asked Aria out to be his girlfriend, it was a little over eight months that the two had been together. It didn't really surprise any of the parents, well, except Mannie.

"You know, you practically live here. I don't know why you even knock anymore." Odd joked as he opened the door. Damian's eyes lowered to the ground and his feet dug into the cobblestone.

"Mom'll yell at me if I just let myself in." He muttered, and Odd laughed ruffling the boys' hair.

"She's upstairs in her room with Naomi and Milee." Odd stepped aside, letting Damian in and his eyes rose up as he saw Mannie getting out of the car. Her cheeks were rosy from the cold winter air, and she was rubbing her arms as she waited for her two friends to join her on the walk up. Odd reached in and grabbed his jacket off the coat rack next to the door and placed his hand in his pockets. As he walked over to the car, his feet crunched in the snow with every step he took.

"Why, Ms. Diazdeleon, you look beautiful today." He whispered in her ear as she was bent over reaching for some presents in the back seat. She straightened her posture as she turned to face Odd.

"Goodness, Odd. You scared me! You have to stop doing that." She placed her hand on her chest and smiled in his direction. That smile, it made his heart leap every time he saw it; even after seventeen years.

"How nice of you to grace us with your presence, Ulrich. How's training coming?" Odd diverted his gaze to Ulrich who was now getting out of the car, and smirked at his friend.

"You know, brutal as usual." Ulrich pressed the 'lock' button on his car keychain, also holding some presents in his left arm. "Let's go inside before I get frostbite." They all nodded in agreement and headed inside the Della Robbia residence.

* * *

><p>She couldn't place her finger on it, whether it was the chill from the cold outside, or the fact that every time she looked at the pictures from her past that she didn't remember which haunted her every time she took a step inside this house. It was the precise reason why she couldn't live here. There was just too much going on for her, and it was doing more bad than good.<p>

There was a giant Christmas tree in the center of their living room with colorful lights placed all over it, and multiple ornaments.

"Mammiieeee!" A squeaky little voice came from behind her, as she felt something about three feet tall grab onto her leg with a monstrous hold.

"Kody!" Mannie laughed leaning down to pick up the blonde boy who wore a long-sleeved button down red shirt and some jeans with black dress shoes. His short blonde hair was up in a short mohawk, and he had red juices rung around his lips. "What is that on your face?!" Mannie wiped off the little boys face, and he giggled digging his face into the hollow of her neck.

"Sorry, he wanted a 'paw-sicko' and I just couldn't say no to that face." Yumi laughed as she and William stepped from the kitchen, a hand on her very pregnant belly.

"Oh I wouldn't blame you. I couldn't say no to this face either." Mannie grinned as she tickled Kody and he laughed, thrashing in her arms. She set him down and he ran over to Odd.

"Mo-I um mean, Mannie, you're here!" Mannie looked up, and saw Aria standing on the staircase with a giant smile on her face, practically beaming. As she was younger, the girl definitely resembled Odd more than Mannie, but as she grew older, she resembled Mannie, and not even Mannie herself could deny that fact.

"Aria, you look beautiful." The girls' hair now reached her waist and she too, had her hair curled. She had a red bow wrapped around her head, pulling her purple bangs back. She had on a solid red dress with a silver belt wrapped around her waist. "Happy birthday sweetie."

"Come on Mannie, they've got drinks in the kitchen!" Avril called from the kitchen, peeking her head around the corner.

"Oh good, I could use a drink after today." Mannie smiled walking towards the kitchen. Once she stood in the entryway, she bumped into someone who spilled alcohol all down her dress.

"Oh man, I am so sor- well hello gorgeous!" Odd grinned.

"Mr. Della Robbia, how many times do I have to tell you..." Mannie lost track of her words as she was staring into his eyes, and sighed, having to tear herself away from them. "Just stop bumping into me!" She started to back away, but Odd grabbed onto Mannie's arm and shook his head.

"Uh uh uh, you don't think I'm letting you get away that easily, do you?" Mannie looked at him, confused and he grinned pointing up towards the ceiling at the plant that was hanging down.

"Mistletoe..." She whispered and sighed. "I don't know if this is some sort of ploy to try and get me to make out with you Odd..." Odd scoffed and placed his hand on his chest in mocking hurt.

"Now Mannie, do I seem like someone who would ploy and do something like that."

"As I seem to recall, your name _is _Odd Ploy Della Robbia." Mannie crossed her arms over her chest and raised her eyebrow at the grown man.

"No way! You've got me confused with my evil twin. _My _name is Odd Devilishy Handsome and Sexy Della Robbia." Mannie couldn't help but snort and laugh in Odd's face.

"Well who am I to argue with that? And I'm certainly not one to break holiday tradition. We may as well get this over with..." She sighed and uncrossed her arms, placing her hands on Odd's shoulders. The childish grin was wiped off his face and replaced with a serious, almost desired look. Mannie stood up on her tippy toes and leaned in placing her lips on his. She could have sworn there were fireworks going off behind them, as heat radiated through her body, and she felt him pull her body against his. Before she knew it, he had pulled away, and he placed his mouth next to her ear.

"I want you to know that I love you wholeheartedly. I know that it may not make sense to you now, but I hope one day that it will. You are my everything. You always have been, and always will be." He pulled back away from her as the doorbell rang, and Odd made his way to the door, giving her one last look.

"Unkew Odd!"

"Well if it isn't my favorite niece and nephew, Carrie and Aldo." Odd laughed as the pink haired girl ran into their house. Mannie wordlessly turned back to look at Odd who was giving Aelita and Jeremy a hug.

'Why does that sound so familiar to me?' She asked herself as she turned back towards the kitchen and walked to Avril who was hold out a glass of red wine out to Mannie.

"That was quite a kiss if you ask me." Avril winked and Mannie rolled her eyes.

* * *

><p>"Aww thanks Uncle Ulrich! I love it!" Aria squealed opening another present. All the kids were sitting on the floor in a circle around the tree taking turns opening presents. Mannie smiled watching them all becoming overjoyed, but something still ate at her deep inside, just as it did last year. Something was missing.<p>

From the corner of her eye, Mannie saw Kody get up and start to run towards the stairs.

"Where exactly do you think you're going little mister?" She laughed and got up from the couch chasing after her son. Odd smiled to himself and also got up from the couch and followed after them, leaning on the post in the hall, watching his wife and son interact. It was the next words out of her mouth that stunned Odd.

"Silly, you know your dad hates it when you go near the stairs." Mannie laughed grabbing her son and throwing him into the air, but catching him when he came back into her grasp. The kid giggled and laughed from excitement, and gave his father a strange look when he saw him coming towards them with a ghastly look on his face.

"W-what did you just say?" Mannie turned to look at Odd and then her eyes widened when she realized the words that came out of her mouth. It hit her like a train. She fell to the ground holding her head as it started pounding, as memories, words, scenes, pictures, sounds, everything starting flowing back into her head. Her eyes were clenched shut and Kody stood next to his mother patting her on the shoulder, a concerned look on his face.

"Mammie?" He asked, and Odd took a few steps forward, grabbing his son. He kneeled next to Mannie and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Mannie, are you okay?" He asked her softly, and she slowly released the hold on her head and raised her head looking around, confused.

"...Odd..?" She whispered as tears came to her eyes. "W...where am I?" Her eyes set on Odd and Kody and they widened. "Kody...oh my God is that you? You're...so big.." She reached forward and grabbed her son in a tight hug.

The others came running into the room hearing the commotion, and Aria took a few steps forward past everyone else.

"Dad, what's going on? Is mo-I mean, is Mannie okay?" Mannie's eyes opened and widened hearing her daughters' voice, and her head sharply turned to look in her direction.

"...Aria?" She whispered and stood, walking over to the girl who was now equal height to her mom. "Look at you... you're so...you're so beautiful." Mannie let out another sob as she grabbed the young girl in a hug, and Aria stared off into the distance, wordless.

"Mom..?" Aria pulled herself looking up at her mothers' face, and the woman looking back was indeed her mother. Those metallic colored, but loving eyes were back. They were just as she remembered. "Oh my... you're back!?"

"Yeah sweetie.. I'm back." Mannie pulled her daughter back to her and kissed the top of her head, holding her tight. 'It's been far too long..' She sighed happily, closing her eyes. Odd still stared at her, the words he was trying to find were failing to come to him. As the woman pulled away from her daughter she turned to look at Odd, a small smile gracing her lips.

"Come on you guys.. let's go open some more presents." Aelita offered to the children, and Aria nodded.

"Promise me you're not going to disappear again?" Aria asked her mom looking up to her. Mannie turned back to face her daughter, and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"I would never dream of leaving you, Aria." The girl nodded, smiling and walked over to her father grabbing her little brother's hand and lead him toward the others.

"C'mon Kody, let's go open some presents!"

"PWEASAAANTS!" The blonde boy squealed in excitement as they all filed out of the room, save Mannie and Odd. Mannie smiled watching them leave, and felt a warm pair of hands resting on her shoulders. She slowly turned to look at him, and felt tears coming to her eyes when hers met his.

"Please tell me this is real and not just a dream. I don't think I can handle another cruel morning waking up where you're not there next to me.." Odd was whispering, his hand caressed the side of her face, and she brought her hand to rest on his.

"This is real... I'm real." She whispered in return, closing her eyes. How long she dreamt of having him this close to her again, she did not know. But to her, this too was surreal.

"Mannie..." He said her voice so softly, it was barely audible. He pulled her body against his and held her close. She returned the embrace. "You're never leaving me again, you have no idea how hard this was without you. How I had to explain to the kids, and-" Mannie raised her finger to rest on his lips.

"I can never understand what you went through, but every time you came to see me, I heard you. I was there Odd, I just had no way of responding to you. I promise, I'm never leaving you again. You are my everything, my soulmate, the love of my life... and now that everything is back.. I feel whole again. I love you Odd." She whispered as he crashed his lips onto hers and his fingers were clasped around her arms longingly, afraid to let go. There was so much passion in his kiss, she hadn't felt him kiss her with such reverie in so long it was almost forgotten. He pulled her as close as physically possible, and breathed her in. She was back. _His Mannie __was back. _He pulled back from the kiss and looked deep into her eyes.

"Forever and always right?" Mannie nodded and smiled.

"'Til death do us part." She whispered and pulled him into another deep kiss.

Aria peeked her head around the corner and smiled at the sight.

'Best birthday present ever.'

If two hearts are truly meant to be joined as one, no matter the retribution or troubles they face, they will always find their way back together and live in true happiness.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, there it is. The end. I truly feel happy that this series is <em>finally <em>over. I posted the first chapter of What Have You Done on 6-15-2007... over six years ago. I really can't even believe it. I want to thank everyone who's been there for me over the years, and even new readers. Y'all give me reason to write. I also want to than I-Breached-UR-Security, AKA, Bre'Ann, for being my biggest fan and helping me with ideas and such. You are my fave and I love you! Thank you all, so so much for everything.  
><strong>

**I plan on going back through the other two parts of this story and editing them so that they're up to par with my creative and writing standards. Please review and let me know your thoughts. Thanks for reading, much love, be kind to others, and never forget; your true love is waiting out there for you somewhere. (P.S. I also have another Code Lyoko story, called One More Night. You're free to read that one as well if you're interested.)**

**XOXO**

**Amber**


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